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FIG.    22. 

CENTRE  RUSH 
AND  OARS- 
MAN. HAR- 
VARD. 


Contents. 


PAGE. 

I.  Thk  Needs  of  the  Day 19 


OD 


II.  Gymnasium  Work 

III.  The  Lighter  Gymnastics 49 

IV.  Breathing 65 

V.  Equestrianism 75 

VI.  CycivIng 103 

VII.  Pedestrianism 131 

VIII.  Base-baix 149 

IX.  Cricket 163 

X.  Foot  Bali. 183 

XI.  G01.F,  Lawn-tennis,  Lacrosse,  P01.0  and  Kin- 
dred vSports 209 

XII.  Rowing  and  Scui^ung 247 

XIII.  Swimming 265 

XIV,  Boxing,  Wre;sti.ing  and  Fencing      ....  291 
XV.  Archery 305 

XVI.  F1E1.D  Sports,  etc. 319 

XVII.  Out-door  Life 335 

(9) 


ivi67435; 


lO  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

XVIII.  Training 357 

XIX.  QuKSTiONs  OF  Hygiene  .........  367 

XX.   ATHI^ETIC   Cl.UBvS 379 

XXI.  Professionaijsm 387 

XXII.  Women  in  Athletics 395 

XXIII.  C0NC1.US10N 415 


List  of  Illustrations. 


PAGE. 

Diagram  of  shoulder  exercise 51 

Diagram  of  exercise  in  stooping 52 

Swinging  exercise 53 

Movement  of  the  head 54 

Results  of  the  Turner  system  . Facing  58 

A  blacksmith "  60 

How's  that? "  75 

Two  figures  from  DoUman's  picture "  77 

The  same  figures  in  outline,  undraped 78 

Similar  figures  from  life Facing  78 

Persian  horsemanship 8r 

Grecian  horsemen 83 

Riding  for  pleasure  in  1814 85 

Down  in  front     .    .    .    .     • Facing  86 

Position  of  spinal  column  on  side-saddle "  90 

Cross-saddle  riding — side  view "  92 

Cross. saddle  riding — front  view "  94 

A  riding  costume 97 

The  same  in  the  saddle 99 

The  start  in  cycle  race Facing  103 

Primitive  cycle 104 

(11) 


12  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGK. 

Progressive  cycle 105 

The  racing  position Facing  113 

Amateur  imitation  of  racing  position "  114 

Skeleton  on  cycle "  116 

Tail-piece — Cycling 128 

A  walker 133 

A  fast  runner      135 

A  long-distance  runner 137 

Base-ball 145 

A  pitcher 155 

Positions  of  the  pitcher  in  the  box Facing  156 

Tail-piece — Base-ball 159 

A  cricket  game Facing  163 

Disease  germs  of  base-ball  and  cricket 163 

Bowling  position Facing  166 

Batting  position "  172 

Positions  of  the  players  in  cricket      179 

Tail-piece — Cricket 180 

A  Rugby  game Facing  183 

A  centre  rush "  198 

A  right  guard "  200 

The  wall  game  at  Eton "  204 

Golf,  stimie-lofting 211 

In  a  stone-bunker 212 

In  whins 213 

Golf  clubs CO., 217 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  13 

PAGE, 

Plan  of  golfing  course 219 

A  lawn  tennis  field Facing  223 

An  ancient  tennis  court 229 

Indian  Baggataway 231 

Preparations  for  Baggataway 233 

A  Choctaw  player 234 

A  Sioux  player 235 

Squaws  playing  ball 237 

Amateur  lacrosse  player Facing  238 

Polo •    •    •  241 

Tail-piece — Lawn  Tennis 243 

An  eiglit-oared  crew Facing  247 

A  modern  oarsman  .    .        "  248 

Over-reaching  in  rowing 250 

Correct  position 251 

The  Cambridge  course 257 

The  Oxford  course 261 

Tail-piece — Boating 262 

A  swnmming  boy Facing  265 

Swimming  with  artificial  aids 273 

The  kick— first  position 275 

The  kick — second  position 276 

The  kick — third  position 277 

Back  swimming— head  foremost 278 

Back  swimming — feet  foremost 279 

Back  swimming,  with  hands  only 280 


14  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE. 

Swimming  machine 281 

Boy  on  swimming  machine — first  position 283 

Boy  on  swimming  machine — second  position 284 

Boy  on  swimming  machine — third  position 285 

Boy  on  swimming  machine — fourth  position 287 

Various  positions  in  boxing Facing  291 

A  counter  hit 293 

A  boxer Facing  294 

Wrestling  at  Cornell "  296 

Amateur  wrestling "  298 

Fencing 299 

Broad-sword 301 

Tail-piece — Boxing 302 

Drawing  the  bow Facing  306 

Tail-piece — Archery 315 

Putting  the  shot — before  delivery Facing  319 

Putting  the  shot — after  delivery  .    .    .    .    • "  322 

A  jumper 325 

Curling  . 327 

Lawn  Bowls Facing  330 

Tail-piece — Sports 332 

Out-door  life Facing  335 

Sailing 339 

Tobogganing 341 

On  snow-shoes .  345 

One  form  of  house-boat Facing  346 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  15 

PAGE. 

A  cozy  corner 349 

Tail-piece — Fishing 353 

Crew  in  training Facing  357 

Too  much  food ..."  368 

Three  thousand  Turners  exercising "  380 

Three  thousand  Turners — second  position "  382 

Modern  Girls'  Gymnasium "  395 

Proposed  gymnasium  1838 397 

A  Wellesley  crew Facing  400 

The  divided  skirt  as  a  gymnastic  dress "  402 

Corset  support  and  muscle  support 404 

Distortion  by  corsets  while  sitting 405 

Normal  female  chest  and  back Facing  406 

An  abnormal  type "  408 

A  faulty  sitting  position "  410 


The  Needs  of  the  Day. 


The  Needs  of  the  Day. 

It  is  reasonably  certain  that  man  was  originally 
made  to  live  and  exercise  in  the  open  air,  bathe  in 
rivers,  expose  his  body  to  the  healthful  action  of 
the  sun,  without  even  the  protection  of  clothing, 
possibly  to  nest  in  trees.  If  houses  were  a  neces- 
sity they  would  have  been  provided.  A  hardy  man 
of  that  time,  with  no  clothes  to  spoil,  could  not 
have  objected  to  the  play  of  the  elements,  or  if  that 
were  too  severe,  the  shelter  of  a  friendly  tree  would 
have  been  ample.  This  was  before  the  fall,  of 
course,  when  man  was  intended  to  live  forever. 

Even  after. that  unfortunate  event,  before  false 
notions  and  artificial  methods  of  living  began,  phy- 
sical perfection  and  length  of  life  were  at  their  best. 
An  easy  agricultural  existence  without  worries  was 
not  sufficient  to  at  once  destroy  all  that  God 
intended.  As  to  physical  perfection,  we  are  told 
that  there  were  giants  upon  the  earth  in  those 
days,  and  as  for  long  life,  just  think  of  it  for  a 
moment.  Unless  the  ancient  year  is  proven  to 
have  been  of  shorter  duration,  or  unless  some  one 
starts  the  theory  that  Moses  made  a  clerical  error, 
we  have  the  following  facts: 

19 


20        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE 

Adam  lived  930  years,  being  130  years  old  when 
his  best  son  Seth  was  born.  Setli  lived  912  years; 
Seth's  son  Bnos,  905  years;  Cainan,  son  of  Enos, 
910  years;  Mahalaleel,  son  of  Cainan,  895  years; 
his  son  Jared,  962  years.  His  son  Enoch  lived  on 
the  earth  265  years  and  did  not  die,  and  Enoch's 
son,  Methuselah  lived  969  years.  Methuselah 
touched  high-water  mark.  After  him  the  race 
began  gradually  to  deteriorate. 

Granting  there  was  such  a  length  of  life  as  we 
understand  the  term,  what  a  lifeful  it  would  have 
been  as  the  world  rushes  along  to-day.  Supposing 
that  Methuselah  had  just  died,  he  would  have  been 
born  in  the  year  of  our  lyord  924,  away  back  in 
the  dark  middle  ages.  What  an  old  fogy  he  would 
have  been  now  !  How  antiquated  his  ideas  would 
have  become  !  He  could  tell  about  how  when  he 
was  a  boy  all  the  strong  men  went  off  on  the  cru- 
sades. The  church  reformations  and  the  great  reli- 
gious wars,  he  would  know  all  about  personally. 
He  would  remember  when  the  Danish  kings  ruled 
in  England,  when  they  were  beaten  by  the  Saxons, 
they  by  the  Normans,  they  in  turn  being  succeeded 
by  the  Plantagenets.  All  the  monarchs  of  England 
that  we  are  particularly  interested  in  would  have 
been  his  contemporaries.  When  he  had  just  passed 
his  five  hundred  and  twenty-second  birthday,  Colum- 
bus would  have  set  sail  for  the  new  world.  Our 
Revolution  would  have  been  one  of  his  latter  day 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  DAY.  21 

events,  so  recent  that  the  old  man  would  not 
remember  it  so  well  as  something  belonging  to  his 
younger  days. 

If  we  even  grant  the  claim  of  some  that  the 
ancient  year  might  have  been  a  shorter  interval, 
even  as  short  as  three  months,  the  fact  remains  that 
these  ancient  lives  were  long  lives,  longer  than  at 
present,  and  that  they  deteriorated  at  about  a  cer- 
tain date,  as  unnatural  methods  of  living  increased, 
until  man's  life  came  down  to  the  three  score  years 
and  ten.  Modern  life  statistics  tell  us  that  we 
have  reduced  the  average  far  below  that  figure. 

If  Methuselah  had  adopted  our  ideas  and  lived 
as  we  do,  could  he  have  lived  as  long  as  he  did  ? 
The  probabilities  are  that  he  simply  existed.  He 
led  an  even  placid  life  without  wear  and  tear.  He 
had  no  worry.  He  was  never  in  a  hurry.  To  have 
even  visited  the  stock  board  would  have  taken  off 
a  century  from  his  life.  To  have  been  crowded 
into  a  city  house  would  have  cost  him  at  least  two 
more.  If  he  could  not  have  afforded  to  play 
farmer,  for  real  farming  to-day  is  hard  work,  he 
could  never  have  stood  it  at  all.  He  could  not 
possibly  have  undergone  the  mental  strain  of  a 
round-up  in  modern  herding. 

The  primitive  physically  perfect  man  who  has 
been  described,  must  not  be  confused  with  the 
aboriginal  man  of  to-day,  who  has  degenerated  to 
a  far  greater  extent  than  his  civilized  brother.     He 


22        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

follows  only  animal  instinct  without  even  animal 
intelligence.  He  violates  every  law  of  health,  and 
in  spite  of  his  outdoor  life  is  a  creature  of  ills, 
pains  and  short  life. 

It  is  claimed  that  with  us,  very  modern  statistics 
now  show  that  the  length  of  human  life  is  again 
on  the  increase  during  a  late  series  of  years.  If 
this  be  so,  may  it  not  be  caused  by  the  modern 
revival  of  athletics  ?  May  we  not,  by  continuance 
in  such  well  doing,  help  to  lengthen  the  span  of 
life  until  we  get  back  to  v/here  we  started,  may  not 
the  experiment  be  worth  trying,  and  may  not  such 
books  as  this  aid  in  the  good  work  ? 

Deep  down  in  every  man's  mind,  notwithstand- 
ing all  protestations  to  the  contrary,  will  probably 
be  found  the  desire  that  he  might  live  as  long  as 
Methuselah,  without  regard  to  whether  he  desires 
a  long  life  for  purposes  of  good  or  evil.  More  cer- 
tainly still  will  be  found  the  desire  to  so  live  the 
life  he  has  as  to  get  the  best  out  of  it.  We  all 
want  to  enjoy  the  best  health  while  we  live;  the 
question  is  how  best  to  attain  it. 

Man  is  made  with  a  body  containing  certain 
separate  parts,  each  of  which  must  be  kept  in 
proper  use  or  the  others  will  suffer.  This  becomes 
a  troublesome  question  in  complex  modern  life. 

For  awhile  man  ran  to  the  extreme  of  exclu- 
sively physical  development.  The  men  of  that 
time  were  but  brutes.      Improved  mental  training 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  DAY.  23 

showed  the  fallacy  of  this.  Then  during  a  long 
course  of  years  the  mental  faculties  were  made 
prominent  at  the  expense  of  the  physical.  Again 
the  defects  of  such  an  arrangement  were  evident, 
and  there  was  again  danger  of  a  reaction  in  favor 
of  a  former  fault.  The  need  of  to-day  is  a  proper 
balance  of  the  mental  and  physical.  There  must  be 
the  proper  exercise  of  all  parts  of  the  body,  both 
mental  and  physical,  such  as  will  fit  a  man  for  the 
work  which  God  has  given  him,  and  without  an 
undue  expenditure  of  time  or  money.  The  ques- 
tion is  what  will  bring  the  best  results,  and  how 
best  to  guard  against  an  injurious  excess  in  any 
direction. 

Many  a  man  of  to-day  feels  the  effects  of  want 
of  proper  exercise  in  early  life.  If  he  has  lived  in 
the  city,  he  has  settled  down  to  sedentary  habits 
too  soon.  To  the  young,  exercise  is  as  necessary 
to  the  body  as  the  food  eaten.  The  disposition  to 
athletics  in  the  young  comes  naturally,  and  hangs 
on  to  an  adult  in  proportion  as  he  retains  his 
youthful  vigor. 

The  young  of  the  lower  animals  begin  to  exer- 
cise their  bodies  from  the  day  they  own  them.  A 
yotmg  monkey,  a  frisky  lamb,  a  playful  kitten,  are 
simply  doing  so  much  necessary  gymnastic  work 
but  in  a  pleasant  way.  There  is  at  least  one 
authentic  instance  of  a  cat  who  lived  to  the  great 
age  of  twenty-one  years.     Almost  to  her  last  day, 


24        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

regularly  at  early  morning,  when  fresli  from  her 
regular  sleep  at  regular  hours,  she  would  chase  her 
tail  and  perform  other  kitten  antics  for  an  hour. 
Who  can  say  that  this  exercise  and  regularity  were 
not  the  cause  of  her  prolonged  life.  Most  adult 
cats  know  enough  to  take  some  outdoor  exercise 
regularly, — a  stroll  on  the  back  fence,  or  a  friendly 
boxing  bout  without  gloves  with  a  neighbor. 

In  cities,  where  people  of  mental  occupation 
mostly  congregate,  we  find,  outside  of  athletic 
circles,  less  physical  strength  than  in  the  country. 
It  has  been  claimed  that  cities  would  die  out  were 
it  not  for  the  continual  infusion  of  new  blood  from 
the  country.  This  is  not  quite  true  to-day.  While 
there  is  more  strength  of  muscle  in  the  country, 
the  conditions  of  life  there  are  also  artificial.  It 
has  become  harder  and  harder  in  the  more  thickly 
settled  regions  to  worry  a  living  from  the  soil. 
This  is  the  cause  of  much  wear  and  tear.  This 
disadvantage  the  modern  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station  and  Science  are  laboring  to  overcome,  and 
with  good  hope  of  success.  To  a  certain  extent 
the  hardships  of  farm  life  with  long  hours  of  labor, 
particularly  on  dairy  farms,  are  being  overcome. 
The  agricultural  newspaper  is  beginning  to  supply 
the  mental  food  which  was  before  lacking,  for  with- 
out a  complete  body,  mental  and  physical,  there 
can  be  no  perfect  health.  The  farmer  to-day  is 
becoming  an  educated  person. 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  DAY.  25 

As  to  how  it  comes  that  with  stronger  bodies 
than  the  citizen,  the  farmer  may  yet  be  inferior 
physically,  that  brings  us  to  another  branch  of  our 
subject. 

It  does  not  follow  that  because  a  man  has  an 
abnormal  development  of  muscle  in  one  or  more 
parts,  he  is  necessarily  in  perfect  physical  health. 
The  sudden  collapse  of  many  a  champion  athlete 
attests  this  fact  strongly.  A  round-shouldered 
boating  man,  or  circus  trapeze  performer,  are 
examples  only  of  a  specialty  in  the  development. 

The  farmer  to-day  has  the  disadvantage  of  bad 
food  and  poorly  ordered  work.  Pastry  heavy  as 
lead,  bread  made  with  saleratus,  and  fried  meat  are 
not  healthful.  He  usually  lacks  the  knowledge  of 
this  fact.  He  exists  in  spite  of  his  drawbacks  by 
reason  of  his  outdoor  life  and  muscle  exercise, 
though  his  average  duration  of  life  is  not  longer 
than  that  of  a  well-ordered  city  brother.  The 
farmer's  work,  in  spite  of  the  educational  news- 
paper, still  lacks  the  mental  pleasure  it  once  had. 
He  has  not  learned  to  see  his  farm  duties  with  the 
eye  of  a  Burroughs.  Without  that  pleasurable 
interest  in  nature;  his  plowing,  hoeing  and  hay- 
making, by  hand  or  machinery,  might  as  well  be 
drain-digging  in  a  city. 

Some  adherents  of  physical  culture  insist  that 
physical  training  should  be  done  as  a  business,  as  ne- 
cessary work,  because  it  is  of  sufficient  importance. 


26        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

There  is,  of  course,  always  a  disposition  to  try 
if  possible  to  escape  from/  labor  with  sweat  of 
brow  by  which  man  must  earn  his  bread.  But 
why  should  we  endure  that  which  is  not  necessary  ? 
Methuselah  probably  did  not  work  two  hours  daily 
on  weights  or  dumb-bells,  year  in  and  year  out, 
in  the  solemn  solitude  of  a  gymnasium,  in  order 
to  secure  his  long  life.  He  took  less  artificial 
methods. 

This  again  brings  us  to  another  branch.  Exer- 
cise, to  produce  its  best  effect,  must  be  recreation, 
mental  as  well  as  physical.  We  cannot  separate 
any  one  part  of  our  economy  and  produce  the  best 
results.  There  must  be  a  well-rounded  develop- 
ment. There  must  be  relaxation  of  what  has 
already  been  too  much  strained,  and  there  must  be 
moderation.  Regarding  the  recreative  side,  the 
time  will  never  come  when  the  playground  rather 
than  the  gymnasium  will  not  be  the  most  import- 
ant part  of  a  school  outfit  which  includes  physical 
well-being  in  its  considerations. 

We  do  not  all  want  to  be  walking  anomalies  with 
barrels  for  thighs,  or  one  arm  abnormally  devel- 
oped, while  some  other  part  of  the  body  may  be 
abnormall)^  weak.  That  may  do  for  the  man 
whose  means  of  livelihood  may  depend  upon  it. 
What  most  of  us  want  is  to  have  our  bodies  har- 
moniously developed  on  the  general  plan  on  which 
they  were  built. 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  DAY.  27 

If  our  average  is  to  have  a  certain  moderate 
amount  of  strength,  we  should  not  try  to  rival 
some  one  whose  massive  frame  seems  made  to  sup- 
port a  world  almost.  A  well-developed  body  is  a 
well-proportioned  body,  not  necessarily  a  large 
body.  We  want  each  of  the  faculties  which  God 
has  given  us,  every  muscle,  every  member,  in  per- 
fect working  order,  so  that  we  can  call  upon  any 
one  of  them  for  any  necessary  service  at  a  moment's 
notice.  And  how  can  this  be  done  unless  we  keep 
them  all  in  exercise.  If  we  make  our  arms  our 
specialty,  the  day  may  come  when  our  legs  may  be 
needed.  If  we  use  only  our  legs,  our  arms  may 
some  day  fail  us.  In  like  manner  if  we  exercise 
only  the  mind,  how  shall  the  body  be  kept  work- 
ing. When  the  mind  most  needs  the  help  of  the 
body,  the  body  will  not  be  in  condition  to  be  relied 
upon.  We  take  it  that  the  body  that  can  in  every 
way  be  depended  upon  to  be  the  mental  servant, 
is  of  more  value  than  one  trained  only  for  brute 
strength  and  endurance.  In  which  direction  do 
our  modern  athletics  tend  ? 

Athletics,  for  the  purpose  of  excelling  in  a  given 
branch,  for  combats,  for  trials  of  skill  or  endurance, 
for  money-making,  for  gambling  direct  or  indirect, 
for  excitement,  are  carried  to  great  extreme.  The 
results  in  physical  culture  have  not  been  entirely 
satisfactory. 


28        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

A  proper  use  of  athletics,  with  the  particular  end 
in  view  of  a  proper  physical  development,  such  as 
will  better  fit  the  body  for  the  ordinary  require- 
ments of  life,  is  more  desirable  than  a  system 
which  only  aims  for  the  attainment  of  superior 
excellence  in  the  particular  athletic  department 
chosen.  Keeping  this  end  in  view  it  is  possible  to 
use  any  athletic  training  to  advantage.  Excess 
will  be  avoided.  The  failure  to  see  the  results, 
due  to  want  of  system,  will  not  be  so  noticeable. 
Any  system  can  be  made  use  of.  If,  for  instance, 
elaborate  and  immensely  expensive  gymnastic  appli- 
ances, such  as  exist  in  Yale's  great  gymnasium,  at 
Harvard  or  at  the  new  Chicago  University,  and 
which  can  be  enjoyed  by  but  one  in  a  thousand,  are 
at  hand,  they  can  be  utilized.  If  the  patient  prefers 
an  anthropometric  chart,  with  accurate  measure- 
ments, and  a  course  of  exact  indoor  exercise  by 
prescription,  say  on  machines  number  23,  47,  50, 
etc. ,  so  many  hours  each,  well  and  good.  If  again, 
no  appliances  are  at  hand,  a  system  of  indoor 
gymnastics  entirely  unassisted  by  artificial  appara- 
tus, of  which  there  are  many  in  existence,  can  be 
utilized.  If  he  prefers  exercise  tempered  with 
recreation  in  the  form  of  games  and  sports,  that  is 
also  good  if  he  only  knows  what  form  he  needs 
most  and  how  to  get  and  apply  it.  There  is  good 
in  all  if  he  only  knows  how  to  extract  it,  and  is 
content  to  indulge  to  moderation  only. 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  DAY.  29 

By  far  the  most  profitable  way  of  getting  this 
good  is  the  latter  form,  making  use  of  such  out- 
door athletic  occupations  as  at  once  give  bodily 
exercise,  occupation  and  recreation  to  the  mind, 
the  pleasure  of  genial  society,  change  of  scenery, 
and  the  inhaling  of  good  outdoor  fresh  air.  These 
can  be  used  as  a  card  player  can  use  use  his  game, 
not  simply  to  win  the  stake,  but  to  give  a  clearer 
head  the  next  day,  through  the  innocent  recreation. 

The  average  man  or  woman,  unprofessional  in 
athletics,  particularly  a  young  person  intent  on 
practical  life,  or  a  person  in  business,  wants  to 
know  how  he  can  best  gain  the  desirable  end.  He 
hears  his  athletic  friend  warning  him  that  he  is  in 
need  of  exercise.  He  perhaps  sees  that  friend 
devote  so  much  time  to  his  chosen  athletic  specialty 
that  his  chance  of  preferment  in  life  is  in  danger. 
The  friend  perhaps  becomes  a  professional  athlete 
and  makes  a  living  out  of  athletics  which  he  does 
not  care  to  do.  It  may  be  this  same  professional 
of  a  sudden  becomes  a  physical  wreck  from  excess, 
or  is  attacked  by  disease  in  a  part  not  included  in  his 
physical  training.  He  may  see  that  friend,  if 
unsuccessful  in  distancing  others  in  some  athletic 
pursuit,  become  merely  a  spectator  interested  in 
athletics,  but  personally  in  no  better  physical  con- 
dition than  himself 

The  average  business  man  has  at  most  only  an 
hour  or  two  that  he  can  devote  to  exercise.      He 


30         ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

would  like  to  follow  his  friend's  advice  to  wliicli 
his  physician  has  perhaps  added  warning,  and  also 
to  steer  clear  of  the  evils  he  notices.  He  would 
like  to  hit  the  happy  medium  in  exercise  which 
will  insure  health  without  imdue  attention  to  the 
matter.  He  would  like  to  know  how  and  when  to 
put  in  his  little  time  to  the  best  advantage,  and 
whether  it  is  within  the  limits  of  his  purse.  He 
consults  textbooks  on  athletics  or  sports,  all  of 
which  are  complete  and  exhaustive.  According  to 
their  statements,  if  he  devotes  his  whole  time  to  it, 
according  to  directions  which  he  must  follow  closely, 
he  may  master  some  one  department,  but  he  must 
do  so  scientifically  and  thoroughly  to  become  an 
expert.  It  may  be  that  he  does  not  want  to  be- 
come an  expert.  He  may  even  want  to  dabble  in 
several  things  at  once.  A  portion  of  one  thing 
may  be  what  he  wants  in  one  way  and  a  portion 
of  another  in  another  way.  And  where  shall  he 
learn  the  exact  physical  benefit  of  each  ? 

In  the  effort  to  obtain  information  as  to  how  to 
get  exercise  without  making  a  business  of  it,  he  has 
to  rely  mainly  upon  himself  If  the  textbooks  are 
too  much  and  he  goes  to  a  physical  trainer  he  may 
there  also  find  too  much  system,  too  much  time, 
too  much  effort  required. 

The  inquirer  is  particularly  disgusted  after  read- 
ing the  textbooks  to  find  that  all  athletic  branches 
seem  to  require  as  much  labor  as  sawing  wood.     He 


THE  NEEDS  OF  THE  DAY.  31 

had  a  scandalous  idea  that  he  might  get  his  exer- 
cise combined  with  recreation,  but  all  authorities 
agree  in  calling  it  work.  He  had  no  idea  of  turn- 
ing the  prospect  of  play  into  such  a  serious  matter. 
If  one  idea  has  to  go,  the  exercise  idea  goes  first, 
and  the  recreation  idea  remains.  He  wants  relaxa- 
tion, not  to  ride  a  hobby  to  death.  He  is  already 
in  a  business  and  does  not  want  to  engage  in 
another  more  elaborate  one.  If  any  one  could  tell 
him  how  to  get  physical  training  with  the  means 
at  his  command  joined  with  pleasure,  how  to  engage 
in  athletics  moderately  without  being  frowned  down 
as  a  mediocre  amateur,  he  would  like  it.  He  wants 
some  one,  in  short,  to  tell  him  how  to  get  exercise 
which  will  enable  him  to  do  more  work  in  working 
hours  by  means  of  play  in  play  hours.  If  that 
is  what  he  wants  to  know,  that  is  exactly  what  we 
propose  to  tell  him. 


k 


Gymnasium  Work, 


s. 


11. 

Gymnasium  Work. 

As  indicated,  these  pages  do  not  attempt  to  be  a 
guide  and  textbook  in  each  particular  branch  of 
athletics.  Rules  will  be  found  elsewhere,  the 
umpire  can  appeal  to  other  authorities.  No  one  is 
here  urged  to  win  a  contest  except  as  a  means  of 
creating  a  sufficient  interest  to  continue  the  pursuit. 
If  perchance  some  one,  whose  aim  has  hitherto 
been  to  gain  brute  development  only  may  be  given 
a  knowledge  of  the  right  use  of  exercise,  or  if  some 
one  who  has  before  taken  no  part  or  interest  because 
of  the  intricate  scientific  cloud  which  surrounds 
the  subject  shall  be  tempted  to  consider  it,  or  if 
some  one  of  the  still  numerous  army  of  busy 
workers  who  strive  early  and  late  at  business, 
grudging  a  moment  for  family,  nourishment,  or 
rest,  shall  begin  to  realize  his  position,  the  end  will 
have  been  gained.  The  aim  is  to  be  a  source  of 
information  as  to  how,  with  what  ease  and  at  what 
expense,  the  needed  relief  may  be  found.  Atten- 
tion will  be  drawn  to  both  use  and  abuse,  to  what 
has  been,  what  is  and  what  might  be.  We  aim 
to  show  the  physical  effect  and  good  of  each  pursuit, 

(35) 


36  ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

how  serviceable  it  may  be  as  a  means  of  relaxation, 
how  far  it  is  available,  and  what  constitutes  modera- 
tion. 

In  this  light  we  now  consider  the  subject  of 
applied  gymnasium  training. 

In  this,  as  in  every  other  branch,  one  point  must 
be  kept  prominent,  the  training  should  not  be  one- 
sided. The  tendency  is  to  do  what  one  can  do 
well  until  tired  of  it.  That  thing  is  just  what  we 
do  not  need  to  do.  The  fact  that  you  do  it  well  is 
a  sure  sign  that  you  are  already  fully  developed  in 
that  direction. 

It  cannot  be  said  too  often  that  a  harmonious 
development  is  necessary  to  perfect  health,  which 
alone  gives  great  power  of  endurance  if  the  unex- 
pected strain  is  suddenly  necessary.  That  alone 
•gives  the  maximum  useful  effect. 

When  man  was  first  created,  he  was  not  only 
intended  to  live  outdoors  but  he  was  intended  to  do 
everything.  He  was  not  planned  for  a  specialist, 
but  for  what  we  term  to-day  an  all-round  player. 
If  it  were  otherwise,  a  boating  man  would  have 
been  created  without  legs  (at  least  before  the  inven- 
tion of  the  sliding  seat).  A  pedestrian  would  have 
had  no  use  for  arms.  By  rights  we  should  be 
taught  to  write  with  either  hand,  and  the  only 
reason  that  we  are  not  is  that  life  is  too  short  to 
expend  that  much  time  on  teaching  two  to  do  what 
we  can  get  out  of  one.    - 


GYMNASIUM   WORK.  37 

^Harmony  and  moderation  are  the  two  watch- 
words for  modern  serviceable  athletics.  To  gain 
these  requires  some  system.  Caprice  should  not 
govern. 

It  often  happens  that  the  newly-awakened  con- 
vert rushes  off  to  a  gymnasium  as  the  only  saving 
cure  for  all  physical  ills.  Why  he  should  select 
the  dullest  form  of  athletic  work,  which  has  not 
the  charm  of  emulation,  the  great  aid  of  outdoor 
life,  the  pleasure  of  companionship,  and  perhaps 
practice  it  only  at  night  when  the  system  is  at  its 
lowest  ebb,  when  an  effort  has  to  be  made  to  get 
the  job  done,  and  when  from  the  physiological 
effect  it  becomes  work  and  not  exercise,  can  only 
be  accounted  for  by  supposing  that  he  considers  it 
a  matter  of  duty.  This  enforced  work,  particularly 
if  under  no  supervision,  is  often  of  such  a  character 
as  to  produce  no  harmonious  development.  Some 
particular  gymnastic  feat  is  perhaps  acquired  and 
that  is  all.  The  result  is  anything  but  a  state 
of  general  health. 

Perhaps  on  the  advice  of  his  physician,  the  so- 
called  physical  trainer  has  given  him  an  athletic 
prescription.  He  follows  directions  and  times  him- 
self at  each  exercise.  Is  there  anything  more  for- 
lorn than  to  go  into  a  gymnasium  and  see  a  grown 
man  in  gymnastic  tights  solemnly  paddling  around 
a  solitary  walking  track  by  the  hour,  with  no 
apparent  end  or  object,  without  emulation  or  the 


38  ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

incentive  of  competition,  and  consequently  without 
interest.  His  walk  recalls  the  sad  sea  waves  by 
which  he  walked  with  his  last  love,  with  equal 
regularity  though  with  less  purpose.  It  is  equally 
depressing  to  see  him  pulling  the  weights  or  punch- 
ing a  bag.  No  lower  animal  would  stand  it.  If 
he  did  not  do  it  from  choice  no  money  could  hire 
him  to  attempt  it.  Condemn  him  to  a  tread-mill 
in  a  jail,  which  would  virtually  be  the  same  thing, 
and  he  would  die  of  exhaustion. 

By  adopting  gymnasium  exercises  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  other  forms  of  athletics  he  does  violence  to 
the  superior  intelligence  of  man  who  has  a  desire 
to  emulate  for  emulation's  sake.  Even  a  horse 
will  try  to  pass  a  competitor  on  the  road  unurged, 
without  a  thought  of  prize  money  or  winnings. 
Emulation  is  a  very  ancient  mode  of  securing  all 
kinds  of  culture. 

By  thus  limiting  the  field  the  would-be  athlete 
throws  away  many  chances  of  recreation  which  can 
be  so  pleasantly  combined  with  exercise.  The 
value  of  exercise  as  exercise  is  increased  if  it 
is  made  pleasing  and  attractive.  In  other  fields 
the  quick  eye,  ready  hand,  habits  of  command, 
readiness  in  emergency,  methods  of  co-operation 
and  philosophical  habits  of  thought  under  de- 
feat can  all  be  cultivated  while  exercising,  and 
they  are  all  of  the  utmost  value  in  life,  insuring 
success. 


GYMNASIUM   WORK.  S9 

Gymnasium  life  has  often  the  drawback,  not  so 
much  now  as  formerly,  that  a  class  of  amateur 
experts  take  possession  who  give  informal  exhi- 
bitions, during  which  the  valuable  time  of  the 
amateur  is  wasted.  This  necessitates  much  sit- 
ting around  in  thin  clothing,  possibly  while  over- 
heated, which,  though  giving  needed  rest,  does 
more  harm  than  good. 

There  is,  however,  a  brighter  side  to  the  picture. 
A  modern  gymnasium  has  its  place.  It  may  be 
that  the  patient  has  gained  his  first  knowledge 
that  there  is  such  a  place,  through  the  imperative 
order  of  his  physician,  to  whom  he  has  gone  in 
danger  of  collapse  from  nervous  exhaustion.  He 
then  learns  that  there  exist  in  cities  certain  institu- 
tions which  have  classes  which  make  use  of  certain 
apparatus,  with  more  or  less  regularity  and  sys- 
tem, under  more  or  less  supervision,  with  an 
attempt  at  emulation,  and  a  show  of  making  it 
interesting.  He  is  advised  that  he  had  better  join 
one  of  these  classes,  when  he  learns  that  all  the 
apparatus  seen  in  gymnasiums  are  not  for  stage 
exhibitions  as  supposed.  In  many  well-regulated 
gymnasiums  he  finds  an  intelligent  instructor,  who 
tells  him  his  needs.  He  is  put  through  a  certain 
drill  which,  if  the  instructor  has  the  knack,  has 
some  merit  of  emulation  and  is  made  interesting 
or  even  amusing.  If  these  latter  merits  are  miss- 
ing, he  will  notice  that  he  goes  through  the  forms 


40  ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

of  exercise  but  his  heart  is  not  in  it.  If  he  is  of 
mature  age  he  sticks  to  the  course  for  the  good 
that  is  in  it,  but  it  is  irksome.  You  can  see  that 
while  exercising  he  is  thinking  about  the  same 
thing  that  he  was  when  he  entered,  which  thoughts 
he  carries  away  with  him.  He  is  not  resting  nor 
recreating. 

It  is  a  question,  outside  of  the  large  colleges 
where  enough  system  exists  to  make  gymnastic 
work  obligatory,  whether  many  expensive  gymna- 
siums are  filling  the  places  they  are  intended  for, 
frequently  from  want  of  a  good  instructor  or  proper 
regulation.  Most  of  the  gymnasiums  advertised  as 
part  of  the  equipment  of  schools  amount  to  nothing 
whatever  on  account  of  the  absence  of  instruction. 
A  gymnasium  without  a  skilled  instructor  is  a 
source  of  danger  rather  than  benefit,  and  the  more 
so  the  more  complete  it  is.  As  well  might  we  have 
a  drug  store  with  a  remedy  for  every  disease  in  it, 
in  charge  of  no  one  or  an  incompetent  hand. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  and  the 
Athletic  Clubs  are  doing  something  in  this  line  for 
which  they  deserve  credit,  but  it  is  as  yet  far  from 
being  thorough  enough. 

They  are  supplying  gymnasiums  and  instructors 
where  none  could  otherwise  be  had.  In  the  Asso- 
ciations in  many  places,  and  sometimes  in  the  club- 
houses, the  gymnasiums  are  in  cellars,  in  most 
unheal thful  surroundings  from  want  of  air,  light 


GYMNASIUM   WORK.  41 

and  comforts.  This  is  not  as  it  should  be.  Who- 
ever invented  the  idea  of  putting  health  resorts 
into  cellars  should  be  strung  up  at  once  as  an 
enemy  to  the  human  race.  The  idea  of  a  certain 
physical  instructor,  which  is  a  good  one,  is  that  a 
gymnasium  should  have  every  appliance  for  com- 
fort and  be  as  near  an  approach  to  the  open  air  as 
possible.  It  should  be  at  the  top  of  the  house,  not 
the  bottom.  For  winter  it  should  be  covered,  but 
for  mild  weather  it  should  have  a  roof  like  the 
Cirque  (T Ete  near  the  Champs-Klysees,  Paris.  The 
massive  cover  of  this  great  building  comes  in  half 
and  rolls  to  each  side  by  means  of  heavy  machin- 
ery and  tracks,  leaving  the  amphitheatre  open  to 
the  air.  Such  an  arrangement  would  give  the 
gymnasium  all  the  air  and  sunlight  possible,  and 
as  pure  as  it  could  be  had  in  the  locality.  There 
is  room  for  many  good  gymnasiums  in  many  cities, 
which  should  be  conveniently  located  to  save  time, 
and  be  put  within  the  reach  of  all.  They  should 
not  be  run  in  a  way  to  make  them  a  waste  of 
money. 

What  should  be  done  in  such  general  gymnasiums 
is  to  approach  as  near  as  possible  the  best  physical 
curriculum,  such  as  is  now  in  use  only  in  the  greater 
colleges.  At  the  present  time  the  German  Turners 
make  the  nearest  approach  to  giving  such  a  course 
to  people  in  ordinary  life,  but  they  accomplish  it 
only  among  the  Germans.     Among   the  latter  a 


42  ATHLETICS  POR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

gymnasium  means  a  place  of  exercise,  not  a  place 
to  be  looked  at  only  or  exhibited,  and  the  Turner 
system  is  a  drill  under  the  most  watchful  military 
discipline.  The  young  German  will  come  under 
such  discipline  easier  than  the  free-born  American, 
who  is  his  own  master,  and  will  only  allow  his  in- 
structor to  go  so  far  as  the  pupil  himself  thinks 
good  for  himself.  This  semi-military  system  takes 
away  at  once  nearly  all  the  drawbacks  of  the  gym- 
nasium. 

Many  ordinary  exercises  of  indoor  gymnastics 
involve  no  competition  between  the  individuals. 
The  Turner  usually  gains  this  by  the  use  of  the 
same  exercises,  whether  with  machines  or  not,  in 
teams.  The  aim  is  to  see  how  much  better  one 
section  can  do  a  given  exercise  than  another.  It 
is  a  difficult  matter  to  so  arrange  gymnastic  exer- 
cises as  to  always  gain  this  advantage,  which  sports 
always  have.  Most  gymnastic  work  is  technically 
self-contained,  requiring  only  the  individual.  It  is 
a  great  thing  to  add  the  competitive  element.  A 
man  gets  some  advantage  in  solitary  exercise,  but 
he  tires  of  pulling  one  set  of  muscles  after  another 
as  if  he  were  a  puppet  and  he  himself  were  man- 
aging the  strings.  Once  tired,  neglect  is  sure  to 
follow. 

The  great  advantage  of  a  good  gymnasium  is 
that  it  contains  apparatus  for  the  exercise  for  every 
muscle  in  the  body.     Whatever  the  person's  need, 


GYMNASIUM   WORK.  43 

which  can  be  accurately  determined  by  a  modern 
physical  professor,  one  can,  if  he  does  not  object  to 
the  dull  work,  use  just  the  right  thing  to  just  the 
right  amount  and  in  the  quickest  way.  But  like 
other  medicine  taking,  it  must  be  regarded  as  a 
duty  and  performed  as  such. 

The  need  of  supervision  in  carrying  out  an  ath- 
letic prescription  is  imperative  to  obtain  full  benefit 
from  gymnastic  work.  As  has  been  pointed  out, 
one  is  apt  to  do  the  thing  he  can  do  best,  which  is 
just  what  he  does  not  need  to  do.  He  needs  devel- 
opment on  his  weak  side.  Supervision  will  prevent 
this.  Without  this  supervision  the  gymnasium 
may  produce  deformity  instead  of  curing  it.  If 
his  arms  and  back  are  defective  he  needs  the 
weights.  If  his  arms  are  massive  and  his  legs 
almost  invisible  he  needs  to  run.  As  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Wadsworth  says  most  forcibly :  "In  dealing  with  a 
giraffe  it  would  be  foolish  to  arrange  movements  to 
enlarge  the  neck.  Nor  is  development  of  a  don- 
key's ears  or  a  peacock's  tail  necessary." 

If  a  person's  occupation  is  not  entirely  sedentary, 
he  may  in  his  ordinary  work  get  exercise  in  a  par- 
ticular line  but  not  in  others.  The  needed  exer- 
cises may  be  found  in  the  gymnasium. 

Most  people,  the  tailors  and  dressmakers  tell  us, 
have  one  shoulder  higher  than  the  other,  or  one  leg 
shorter  than  the  other,  deformities  due  to  certain 
habits.   These  can  all  be  corrected  in  the  gymnasiuqa, 


^ 


44        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

Tastes  and  needs  in  exercise  differ.  The  gym- 
nasium can  cater  to  all.  Head-tired  and  muscle- 
tired  people  are  diflferent  classes.  Head-tired  people 
should  have  exercise  involving  recreation,  in  which 
the  muscles  are  exercised  and  the  brain  rested. 
Muscle-tired  people  need  only  a  change  of  exercise, 
preferably  something  in  which  the  mind  is  not 
entirely  at  rest.  In  sports,  this  can  be  arranged  by 
choosing  the  right  kind  ;  in  the  gymnasium,  the 
proper  apparatus. 

Though  night  is  not  as  good  a  time  for  exercise 
as  day,  some  people  can  get  no  other.  Night  time 
is  better  than  no  time  at  all.  To  such  the  gymna- 
sium offers  the  advantage  that  it  can  be  used  when 
outdoor  sports  cannot,  by  night  as  well  as  day,  and 
to  that  extent  can  increase  the  number  benefited. 

The  gymnasium  can  be  used  in  connection  with 
other  athletics,  not  only  as  a  means  of  getting  into 
condition  but  to  even  up  the  effects  of  the  cultiva- 
tion of  specialties.  This  not  only  gives  better 
health  by  the  better  general  development,  but  it 
tends  to  better  progress  in  the  specialties.  The 
runner  is  aided  as  a  runner  by  practicing  rowing, 
and  the  oarsman  by  long-distance  running.  Instead 
of  the  corresponding  sport,  the  gymnastic  apparatus 
giving  the  particular  muscular  motion  desired  may 
be  used. 

Mr.  Gladstone  found  a  small  private  gymnasium, 
which  he  used  regularly  every  morning,  the  greatest 


GYMNASIUM   WORK.  45 

help  as  a  preparation  for  the  most  trying  days  in 
Parliament.  On  the  mornings  when  he  first  intro- 
duced his  most  momentous  bills  into  the  House,  he 
always  spent  an  hour  in  his  gymnasium,  after  which 
he  bathed  and  ate  a  light  breakfast.  William  Cul- 
len  Bryant  attributed  the  preservation  of  his  intel- 
lectual and  physical  vigor  to  such  advanced  years, 
to  a  habit  formed  in  early  life  of  devoting  the  first 
hour  or  two  after  leaving  his  bed  in  the  morning  to 
moderate  gymnastic  exercise,  the  allowance  of 
which  he  never  reduced  a  particle  to  his  eighty- 
fourth  year. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  indoor  gym- 
nastics should  be  subservient  to  outdoor  exercise, 
in  which  alone  the  true  exhilaration  of  exercise  can 
be  gained,  and  usually  with  the  added  help  of 
recreation. 


p 


The  Lighter  Gymnastics, 


III. 

The  lyiGHTER  Gymnastics. 

In  all  systems  alike  the  old  form  of  heavy  gym- 
nastics is  dead.  The  heavy  iron  dumb-bells  lie 
unused  in  a  corner.  The  lifting  of  heavy  weights 
is  no  longer  the  mark  of  an  athlete.  The  attain- 
ment of  great  strength  is  useful  at  times.  A 
strong,  heavy,  slow-motioned  cart  horse  has  his 
place  as  well  as  the  more  supple  trotter,  though 
the  former  is  hardly  considered  so  valuable.  But 
we  are  not  all  needed  in  the  capacity  of  piano 
movers.  We  find  in  daily  life  that  quick,  supple 
muscles  are  of  more  use  than  the  hard  muscle  of 
the  typical  strong  man.  Exercises  with  heavy 
weights  will  develop  power  to  a  certain  extent  in 
certain  people  who  are  built  for  it,  but  they  will 
not  develop  even  strength  so  quickly  as  will  light 
exercise,  with  light  apparatus  or  without  any. 
Heavy  exercises  are  now  considered  injurious  and 
incompatible  with  longevity.  With  heavy  exer- 
cises there  is  greater  liability  to  strain,  which  may 
last  a  lifetime.  A  man  who  aims  for  comparative 
softness  and  great  flexibility  of  muscle,  can  sum- 
mon great  strength  when  it  is  needed,  and  he  will 
have  endurance  also. 

4  (49) 


50       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

There  are  various  systems  of  light  gymnastics 
which  still  use  gymnastic  apparatus,  either  for  soli- 
tary workers  or  for  classes,  but  they  all  involve 
lighter  and  more  gradual  muscle  work  than  for- 
merly. More  use  is  made  of  light  wooden  dumb- 
bells, bar-bells,  wands  and  light  clubs.  This  use 
is  based  on  former  systems  of  calisthenics  which 
were  originally  considered  only  for  women,  but 
which  have  now  been  changed  so  as  to  be  thought 
healthful  meat  for  strong  men.  This  kind  of 
apparatus  is  most  suitable  for  class  work.  The 
German  Turners  happily  combine  both  light  and 
heavier  apparatus  into  their  interesting  system  of 
drill  with  the  best  results,  and  by  methods  which 
keep  the  interest  fully  alive.  They  also  use  many 
free  movements  without  apparatus. 

For  those  who  have  not  the  use  of  the  more 
elaborate  apparatus,  there  is  the  Swedish  system 
in  various  modifications,  using  either  light  appara- 
tus, "which  can  be  had  or  carried  anywhere,  or 
nothing  whatever.  A  possible  drawback  is  that 
this  system  is  somewhat  complicated,  and  when 
thorough  savors  a  great  deal  of  brain  work  added 
to  the  work  of  the  body. 

Among  the  best  systems  of  exercise  entirely 
without  apparatus  is  that  of  Mr.  Checkley,  who 
in  his  own  person  has  shown  very  forcibly  what 
can  be  accomplished  on  a  very  poor  basis  to  start 
with.      He  makes  use  of  nothing  but  what  every 


THE  LIGHTER   GYMNASTICS. 


51 


man  always  has  with  him,  his  own  body,  discard- 
ing all  artificial  aids.  Mr.  Clieckley  has  invented 
a  system  of  motions  which  any  one  can  try,  which 
at  will  can  be  made  to  exercise  every  muscle  and 
to  educate  the  whole  system  of  a  man. 

As  an  example,  a  special  exercise  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  shoulders,  with  the  muscles  of  the  back 
and  sides,  is  this:  "Stand  sideways  near  some 
vertical  surface,  like  the  wall  of  a  room,  at  a 
point  sufficiently  distant  to  allow  the  hand  when 
extended  to  easily  touch  the 
surface.  [Fig.  i.]  Now  move 
an  inch  further  away  and 
touch  the  surface  again  with- 
out altering  the  position  of 
the  feet,  legs  or  pelvis.  A 
second  time  move  an  inch, 
and  this  time  there  will  be 
some  difficulty  in  reaching. 
Repeat  the  movement  until 
the  surface  cannot  be  reached, 

then  do  the  same  with  the  other  arm  and  shoulder. 
The  effort  to  reach  will  draw  out  and  straighten 
the  shoulders,  and  it  will  be  discovered  that  the 
shoulders  can  be  made  to  have  a  distinct  lateral 
extension. 

' '  Or,  stand  with  the  back  to  the  wall  and  the 


arms   extended,  and  make   a 
ends  of  the  second 


fingers  when 


pencil   mark  at  the 
the  shoulders  are 


52 


ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 


most  contracted.  Now  reach  out  as  far  as  possible 
each  way,  and  the  difference  in  reach  will  be  found, 
at  the  end  of  a  few  of  the  exercises,  to  have  steadily 
increased,  and  the  shoulders  will  have  developed." 
All  exercises  of  the  joints  involve  certain  exer- 
cises of  the  muscles,  but  there  are  some  that 
involve  simply  a  relaxation  of  certain  muscles  with 
only  sufficient  tension  in  others  to  keep  the  body 
erect  meanwhile.  Such,  for  instance,  is  the  use- 
ful exercise  of  this  sys- 
tem for  obtaining  flex- 
ibility in  the  pelvic 
region  or  the  region  of 
the  hips,  as  follows  : 

' '  Take  the  correct 
standing  position,  then 
relax  the  muscles  so  as 
to  permit  the  whole 
weight  of  the  body  to 
fall  on  the  left  leg,  al- 
lowing the  right  leg  to  bend  and  the  right  hip  to 
sag  down  as  far  as  it  may.  Now  transfer  this 
weight  to  right  leg  and  allow  the  left  hip  to  drop 
as  loosely  as  possible.  This  would  be  a  very  bad 
position  to  stand  in,  but  the  exercise  in  trans- 
ferring the  weight  from  one  side  of  the  pelvis  to 
the  other,  gives  increased  flexibility  and  vigor  to 
the  muscles  and  ligaments  of  that  region,  and  will 
give  increased  elasticity  and  endurance  in  walking. 


Fig.  2. — E)xercise  in  stooping,  contract- 
ing the  abdomen  by  muscular  action, 
bending  first  the  knees,  then  the 
hips,  and  then  extending  the  should- 
ers for  reaching. 


THE  LIGHTER  GYMNASTICS. 


53 


On  the  first  occasion  the  exercise  should  be  re- 
peated slowly  and  may  last  one  or  two  minutes. 
After  renewed  practice  it  will  be  found  easy  to 
drop  rapidly  from  one  hip  to  the  other  without  in- 
convenience, and  to  prolong  the  exercise  for  four 
or  five  minutes: 

"An  exercise  of  a  simple  but  effective  character 
for  giving  flexibility  of  the  spine  is  acquired  in  this 
way:  After  assuming  the  cor- 
rect standing  position,  extend 
the  arms  until  the  hands  are 
brought  on  a  level  with  the 
shoulders.  Holding  the  arms 
and  shoulders  upon  a  straight 
line  and  keeping  the  arms 
directly  opposite  each  other, 
as  if  actually  held  in  position 
by  a  long  pole  passed  across  the 
back  of  the  neck  and  held  in  position  by  the 
thumbs  (this  plan  may  be  followed  if  desired), 
swing  the  arms  and  shoulders  in  unison,  first  in 
one  direction  and  then  in  the  other,  until  the 
line  of  the  arms  at  the  extreme  tension  of  the 
swing  is  as  nearly  as  possible  at  right  angles  with 
the  first  position.  [Fig.  3.]  Swing  in  this  way  at  the 
rate  of  about  twenty  movements  to  the  minute  until 
the  muscles  of  the  shoulders  and  back  feel  tired. 
The  greatest  flexibility  will  be  found  in  the  upper 
region    of    the   spine — a    slight   flexing    of    each 


FIG. 


64 


ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE, 


strengthened. 


section  of  the  vertebrae — giving  an  aggregate  twist 
that  will,  with  practice,  become  considerable.  If 
the  arms  do  not  swing  the  shoulders  with  them 
the  exercise  will  have  little  value.  The  hips  should 
keep  their  natural  positions  and  not  swing  with 
the  shoulders. 

*'  In  the  movement  just  described  keep  the  face 
directed  toward  one  point  in  front.  By  so  doing 
the  neck  will  be  given  some  work  and  wall  be 
To  further  strengthen  the  neck — 
and  a  development  of  the  neck 
muscles  will  prevent  many  a 
headache  that  arises  from  no 
-  other  cause  but  muscular  fatigue 
— staifd  with  the  back  against 
the  wall.  Without  moving  any 
part  of  the  back  or  shoulders 
away  from  the  wall,  move  the 
head  forward  and  back  a  num- 
ber of  times,  keeping  the  face  on  the  same  vertical 
line  as  when  the  back  of  the  head  touches  the 
wall.  Then  practice  the  side  to  side  movement 
of  the  head  without  altering  the  vertical  line. 
[Fig.  4.]  In  this  second  movement  it  will  be 
found  very  difficult  at  the  beginning  not  to  roll  the 
head,  but  be  content  with  a  slight  movement  at  the 
outset,  and  in  time  it  will  be  found  possible  to 
oscillate  the  head  several  inches  without  altering 
the  vertical  line." 


THE  LIGHTER   GYMNASTICS.  55 

These  and  many  other  exercises  for  other  pur- 
poses go  to  make  up  the  system.  They  can  all  be 
used  at  any  time  and  place.  While  some  of  them 
tax  considerably  the  agility  of  the  muscles,  none 
of  them  are  violent.  The  use  of  such  exercises 
will  give  a  perfect  familiarity  with  and  mastery  of 
all  the  muscles  of  the  body.  When  this  has  been 
accomplished  a  man  may,  if  he  has  the  time  and 
feels  the  necessity,  be  ready  for  heavier  athletic 
training.  These  exercises  awaken  the  muscular 
system  and  give  it  readiness.  It  will  be  found  that 
if  such  training  is  carefully  advanced,  a  much 
heavier  strain  on  the  muscles  than  would  be  sup- 
posed may  be  met  with  ease  should  there  be  unex- 
pected need. 

These  exercises,  which  are  types  of  what  can  be 
done  in  the  way  of  exercising  without  apparatus, 
should  now  be  contrasted  with  the  best  system  of 
class  work  of  which  the  Turner  drill  is  a  type. 
This  system  cannot  be  studied  at  a  public  exhibi- 
tion, for  then  only  the  best  pupils  are  shown,  and 
mostly  at  fancy  work.  To  understand  it,  it  is 
necessary  to  drop  in  casually  on  a  Turiigemeinde 
class  at  the  ordinary  exercises. 

If  the  class  at  work  happens  to  be  composed  of 
the  youngest  pupils  it  will  be  found  to  be  the  more 
interesting.  As  you  enter  the  gymnasium  you  will 
see  probably  as  many  as  seventy  little  fellows  drawn 
up  loosely  in  two  lines.     They  are  in  plain  flannel 


56        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE, 

suits  and  slippers.  Their  ages  will  range  from  per- 
haps six  to  fourteen  years.  Discipline  is  main- 
tained, and  some  other  features  of  military  drill  are 
insisted  upon.  The  exercises  will  begin  with  march- 
ing, in  which  the  natural,  robust  and  well-devel- 
oped little  figures  show  to  advantage.  The  first 
rudiments  of  the  course  to  beginners,  even  the 
smallest,  include  the  "setting  up  "  of  the  figure  as 
in  militaiy  work.  The  marching  is  not  simply 
military  marching,  but  includes  the  formation  of 
some  figures,  something  after  the  fashion  of  a  grand 
march  at  a  ball.  The  marching  also  includes  the 
accenting  of  the  step,  first  with  the  left  foot,  which 
at  word  of  command  changes  to  the  right.  After- 
ward every  other  step  is  accented  by  a  slight 
blow  with  the  foot  on  the  floor  which,  by  reason  of 
the  large  number,  is  very  marked,  even  in  slippers. 
Then  every  fourth  step  is  marked,  then  every  sixth 
and  every  eighth.  Ordinary  quick  time,  which 
will  be  the  usual  use  with  such  young  pupils,  is 
suddenly  changed  to  the  double-quick  at  word  of 
command  without  losing  a  step  or  throwing  a  single 
pupil  out  of  time. 

The  pupils  may  perhaps  be  marched  into  circles, 
counted  off  for  double  formation,  and  at  the  word 
the  alternates  step  back  a  pace,  thus  giving  each 
plenty  of  space  for  bodily  exercises.  A  model  boy 
who  knows  the  work  is  put  into  each  circle.  Ordin- 
ary motions  of  all  parts  of  the  body  are  gone  through 


s 


THE  LIGHTER  GYMNASTICS.  57 

empty -handed,  including  finally  sitting  on  the  floor, 
lying  down  flat  on  the  back  and  raising  the  body 
again  with  the  hands  on  the  hips  without  letting 
the  elbows  touch  the  floor.  The  body  is  also  brought 
to  a  squatting  position,  from  which  it  is  thrown  onto 
the  support  of  the  hands  on  the  floor  in  addition  to 
the  feet,  without  the  knees  touching.  While  in  this 
position,  in  which  the  class  looks  like  so  many  frogs, 
the  legs  are  suddenly  thrown  out  to  full  length  back- 
ward, the  belly  down,  leaving  the  weight  supported 
by  the  toes  and  hands  only.  From  this  position 
the  former  one  must  be  recovered  without  touching 
the  knees  to  the  floor.  An  occasional  failure  leads 
to  some  amusement,  which  is  not  frowned  down, 
though  even  without  that  the  boys  seem  to  enjoy 
the  sport  hugely.  Anything  like  mischief  is  nipped 
in  the  bud.  The  offending  boy  is  placed  in  a  corner 
to  stand  at  the  will  of  the  instructor,  from  which 
the  pupil  never  rebels,  perhaps  with  a  wand  through 
his  elbows.  For  grave  offence,  he  may  stand  until 
the  end  of  the  lesson,  when  he  is  dismissed  with  the 
information  that  his  parents,  usually  his  ' '  Vater, ' ' 
will  be  seen  about  it. 

Such  exercises  are  not  all  that  tend  to  keep  up 
interest.  After  awhile  when  the  class  must  needs 
rest,  the  boys  are  told  off  into  squads  or  detach- 
ments, each  of  which  does  an  exercise  while  the 
others  rest.  Possibly  on  this  occasion  two  dozen 
large  wooden  rings  are  placed  on  the  floor  at  the 


58        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

ends  of  the  gymnasium.  Twelve  are  placed  at  one 
end,  say  three  feet  apart,  and  fifty  feet  away  at  the 
other  end,  are  similarly  placed  the  other  twelve. 
Inside  of  each  of  the  rings  that  are  at  one  end  of 
the  gymnasium  are  stood  two  very  slim  Indian 
clubs,  the  equilibrium  of  which  is  easily  upset. 
Twelve  little  fellows  are  stationed  at  the  ends 
where  the  clubs  are,  with  a  hand  on  one  of  each  pair 
of  clubs.  At  the  word  all  twelve  boys  race  with  a 
club,  stand  it  inside  the  vacant  ring  opposite,  race 
back  for  the  other  club,  which  must  be  put  beside 
the  first.  It  often  happens  that  by  the  time  the  boy 
has  returned  for  the  second  club,  he  sees  that  the 
first  one  has  tumbled  over,  when  he  must  return 
and  right  it  before  he  brings  the  second.  He  must 
attend  to  but  one  at  a  time.  The  first  boy  of  the 
twelve  to  complete  the  task  is  the  winner  of  that 
trial  heat,  and  is  told  off  for  a  final  test  with  other 
similar  winners. 

In  like  manner  twelve  swinging  poles,  about  six- 
teen feet  long,  will  be  hooked  to  the  ceiling,  and 
twelve  boys  will  race  for  them  at  word  of  command, 
catch  them  on  the  fly,  take  one  arm's  lift  up  the 
pole,  grip  it  with  hands  and  feet  and  swing  for  a 
certain  time.  After  this  has  been  tried  by  all,  to 
give  the  method  of  climbing,  the  poles  will  be 
caught  from  a  position  of  rest  and  the  boys  will  try 
to  climb  to  the  top  of  each.  Those  who  cannot 
climb  far  drop  off  and  fail.     Those  who  have  not 


FIG.  5.— re;sui,ts  of  the;  turner  syste;m. 


THE  LIGHTER   GYMNASTICS.  59 

learned  the  foot-hold  and  try  to  work  with  the  arms 
only,  necessarily  fail.  The  first  at  the  top  in  every 
trial  heat  makes  another  trial  with  similar  winners. 

By  this  time  the  boys  have  probably  had  as 
much  exercise  at  one  time  as  the  instructor  thinks 
good  for  them.  At  the  word  the  line  is  formed, 
and  they  march  out  on  the  way  to  the  dressing 
room,  with  a  hearty  "Adieu"  (for  the  thorough- 
going German  is  French  in  his  farewell)  from  each 
boy  to  the  instructor  as  he  reaches  the  doorway. 

This  order  of  exercises,  if  that  is  the  lesson  for 
that  day  and  week,  will  be  used  with  certain  altera- 
tions for  the  small-girl  classes,  for  older  girls  and 
women,  for  the  junior  classes  of  young  men,  and 
for  the  older  men.  During  the  course  of  a  season 
the  lessons  will  lead  up  to  what  we  see  done  by  a 
few  experts  at  an  exhibition.  It  is  easy  to  see, 
with  such  a  system  in  general  use  in  Germany, 
where  the  German  army  gets  its  good  material.  It 
took  hard,  self-sacrificing  work  on  the  part  of  the 
founder  of  the  system  to  make  it  popular,  so  that 
the  people  would  take  part  in  it,  further  it,  submit 
to  the  discipline  and  send  their  children,  but  the 
benefit  once  shown  it  was  easily  kept  up.  The 
fathers  and  mothers  who  have  learned  the  benefits 
wish  them  for  their  children.  In  this  country  love 
of  fatherland  and  its  customs,  which  is  so  strong 
in  the  German,  helps  to  foster  it.  As  here  prac- 
ticed it  is  combined  with  the  social  German  club 


60        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

or  Verein.  The  Turner  celebration  and  festival  are 
features,  and  from  these  the  Frau  and  Fraulien  are 
not  excluded,  nor  home  life  entirely  overlooked. 

The  Turner  system,  though  conservative,  has 
felt  the  change  in  modern  gymnastics.  It  has  also 
discarded  much  heavy  work  and  substituted  light, 
quick  motions,  giving  suppleness  rather  than 
strength.  So  useful  has  the  system  become,  that 
in  Germany  it  has  been  made  a  part  of  army  drill 
itself. 

In  the  illustration  [Fig.  5]  we  have  three  active 
German  Turners,  taken  as  average  examples  only, 
representing  three  diverse  classes.  The  models 
are  aged  13,  21  and  53,  and  their  physical  develop- 
ment comes  mainly  from  the  exercise  gained  in  the 
Turner  gymnasium.  The  older  man  is  actively 
engaged  in  a  very  sedentary  occupation — is  in  fact 
a  shoemaker,  while  the  younger  man  has  as  little 
chance  for  exercise  in  his  daily  occupation,  being 
an  engraver,  and  always  working  while  seated. 
One  would  not  think  so  to  look  at  the  picture. 
Surely  it  is  a  good  showing  for  the  system. 

Contrast  now  the  picture  [Fig.  6]  of  a  man  who 
must  needs  have  much  exercise  in  his  daily  toil, 
as  he  is  a  blacksmith  and  is  necessarily  quite 
strong.  His  malformation  of  back  and  contracted 
chest  come  from  want  of  care  during  exercise. 
The  exercise  was  misapplied  and  has  done  harm 
rather  than  good.     A  gymnasium  or  Turner  drill 


FIG.    6.  ~A    BLACKSMITH. 


THE  LIGHTER   GYMNASTICS.  61 

in  connection  with  the  daily  toil  would  have  pre- 
vented the  injury,  or,  the  injury  once  accom- 
plished, would  have  done  much  to  remedy  it. 

We  will  now  suppose  that  our  athletic  patient, 
who  has  been  persuaded  to  try  gymnastic  work  for 
his  health,  through  the  advice  of  some  friend  or  his 
doctor,  or  on  the  recommendation  of  some  worthy 
book,  has  tried  solitary  exercising,  or  as  much  of 
a  class  drill  as  he  can  get  in  an  ordinary  American 
gymnasium.  If  he  is  a  young  man  and  if  the 
instructor  has  the  knack  of  helping  to  amuse  him, 
he  has  probably  stuck  to  it  more  or  less  regularly 
for  awhile,  and  has  then  tired  of  the  monotony. 
If  he  is  an  older  man,  he  has  probably  stuck  to  it 
doggedly  to  the  end,  determined  to  get  all  the  good 
there  is.  At  the  end  of  the  allotted  time  he  prob- 
ably allows  the  idea  to  enter  his  mind  that  he  is 
slightly  tired  of  it.  The  younger  man  says  boldly: 
' '  Why  did  not  the  doctor  prescribe  so  many  games 
of  ball  instead  of  this  infernal  nonsense  ?  ' '  The 
older  man  may  admit  that  he  would  not  object  if 
he  could  get  his  exercise  with  a  little  more  recrea- 
tion mixed  with  it.  When  he  gets  this  idea,  he 
commences  to  look  around  before  taking  another 
course  in  gymnastics. 


Breathing. 


IV. 
Breathing. 

Before  looking  into  the  subject  of  exercises 
which  include  recreation,  it  would  be  well  to  con- 
sider an  important  matter,  without  attention  to 
which  exercise  at  any  time  may  not  only  be  of  no 
value  but  be  positively  harmful. 

After  all,  to  get  breath  into  the  body— breath, 
composed  of  good  healthy  unspoiled  air  and  plenty 
of  it — is^the  end  and  object  of  exercise. 

The  importance  of  this  cannot  be  overestimated. 
Food,  the  proper  action  of  the  heart,  strong  muscles 
are  all  good,  but  without  proper  breath  of  what 
avail  are  they.  Man  may  exist  for  many  days 
without  a  particle  of  food,  but  cannot  live  many 
minutes  without  breathing.  All  living  organisms, 
plants  as  well  as  beings,  must  have  air.  It  must 
be  in  sufficient  quantity  and  of  the  right  kind. 
In  athletics,  muscular  power  is  secondary  and  sub- 
servient to  respiratory  power.  As  without  breath- 
ing we  cease  to  exist,  so  in  proportion  as  we  do 
not  breath  properly  we  cease  to  exist  properly. 

The  end  and  object  of  exercise  is  to  assist  the 
body  in  changing  its  formation.     There  is  a  con- 

^  (65) 


66        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

tinual  breaking  down  of  old  tissue  and  building  up 
of  new,  which  comprises  healthy  life.  In  breath- 
ing we  take  in  what  we  need  and  give  off  what  we 
are  done  with. 

It  is  of  no  use  to  take  exercise  which  will  en- 
large muscle  if  we  do  not  allow  the  proper  appar- 
atus to  supply  the  proper  food  with  which  the 
muscle  is  to  be  built  up.  We  should  see  to  it  that 
the  apparatus  is  sufficiently  developed,  kept  in 
order,  and  watched  carefully.  Neglect  of  such 
precaution  is  the  worst  kind  of  neglect.  It  is 
starvation,  for  air  is  food.  It  may  be  well  to 
remember  that  four-fifths  of  all  the  elements  which 
go  to  make  a  perfect  body  come  from  the  air. 

The  importance  of  breathing  is  acknowledged 
by  many,  but  the  way  of  doing  it  is  left  very  indefi- 
nite. It  is  thought  that  if  the  muscles  of  the  chest 
are  developed  it  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  secure 
enough  air. 

But  the  muscles  of  the  chest  may  be  developed 
without  the  lungs,  as  a  fine  boat  may  be  built  with 
a  small  or  unsafe  boiler.  Superficial  ideas  on 
training,  even  to-day,  produce  large-chested  ath- 
letes who  are  easily  winded.  A  buyer  of  fast 
horses  seldom  makes  a  mistake  of  that  kind.  He 
looks  to  the  wind  first  as  a  prime  requisite  of 
excellence  of  speed  or  endurance.  The  horse  must 
have  big  lungs,  not  big  chest  muscles,  and  they 
must  be  in  perfect  order. 


BREATHING.  67 

The  chest  should  be  developed  from  the  inside 
by  the  action  and  growth  of  the  lungs. 

Supposing  that  your  attention  is  now  gained 
and  that  you  appreciate  the  need,  what  do  you  do 
to  obtain  the  use  of  enough  good  air  ? 

Possibly  you  take  to  long  breathing  as  an  exer- 
cise. You  fill  your  lungs  quickly  with  as  much 
air  as  you  can  force  into  them.  After  the  lungs 
are  packed  as  full  as  they  can  hold,  you  try  to  force 
in  more.  You  shut  the  gates  and  try  to  hold  it 
there  as  long  as  you  can.  Perhaps,  j^our  chest 
thus  extended,  you  pound  upon  it  with  your  fists 
like  an  angry  gorilla  on  his  abdomen.  After  you 
have  held  the  air  as  long  as  possible,  until  you  are 
blue  in  the  face  perhaps,  and  your  eyes  stand  out 
with  the  strain,  you  let  it  out  suddenly.  Then  you 
look  to  your  instructor  for  approbation  and  encour- 
agement. Perhaps  you  get  it.  But  is  that  the 
way  the  physically  perfect  primeval  man  breathed  ? 
Not  at  all.  You  have  been  doing  a  very  bad  thing. 
You  have  been  straining,  and  that  is  a  terrible 
fault  in  anything  connected  with  physical  training. 

What  you  need  is  regular  and  deep  breathing, 
from  the  lungs,  not  from  the  diaphragm  below  the 
lungs  which  should  have  but  a  limited  share  in  the 
action  of  breathing. 

In  this  breathing  for  exercise  the  air  should  be 
inhaled  slowly,  if  not  at  violent  exercise,  which 
demands  more  entrance  and  exit  room,  through  the 


68        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

nose  only.  According  to  some  it  should  then  be 
exhaled  as  slowly,  according  to  others  a  better 
effect  is  gained  by  exhaling  with  force  from  the 
lungs  by  mouth  and  nose  what  has  been  inhaled 
slowly  through  the  nose  only,  thus  giving  a  stronger 
exercise  to  the  muscles  affecting  the  movement  of 
the  lungs.  Certain  vocal  teachers  insert  a  small 
quill  in  the  mouth  and  teach  to  breath  only  so  fast 
as  the  air  can  get  in  and  out  through  that-sized 
opening.  This  is  not  so  good  for  the  reason  that, 
if  possible,  the  breathing  should  be  done  through 
the  natural  channel,  the  nose,  which  contains  natural 
apparatus  for  straining  impurities  from  the  air  and 
taking  the  chill  from  it  before  it  enters  the  lungs. 
Those  w^ho  habitually  breath  through  the  mouth  at 
all  times  are  subject  to  many  forms  of  pulmonary 
and  throat  diseases. 

lyong,  slow,  deep  breaths,  taken  evenly,  with  fore- 
thought, and  done  consciously  for  a  short  time 
daily,  can  do  a  great  deal  of  good.  They  can  be 
inhaled  at  intervals  during  the  day  without  entering 
a  gymnasium  or  making  special  preparations.  If 
the  clothing  is  as  it  should  be,  so  as  not  to  inter- 
fere, the  breathing  can  be  done  while  walking, 
while  standing,  while  waiting,  while  climbing  a 
stairway,  premising  that  the  air  is  proper  (it  is  best 
done  in  the  open  air  if  possible),  and  the  person  is 
not  in  too  much  of  a  hurry.  Proper  distention  of 
the  lungs  cannot  be  gained  hurriedly,  nor  can  any 


BREATHING.  69 

exercise  be  properly  done  in  that  way.  When  the 
body  is  at  rest  not  more  than  ten  breaths  to  a  min- 
ute is  the  normal  rate,  increasing  during  exercises. 
The  aim  when  exercising  should  be  to  keep  the 
respirations  as  slow  as  possible  consistent  with  com- 
fort and  absence  of  strain,  and  not  to  empty  the 
lungs  too  much. 

At  first  this  slow  full  breathing  will  have  to  be  done 
consciously  by  an  effort.  But  the  habit  once  gained 
it  will  continue.  In  proportion  as  it  is  gained  come 
strength  and  endurance.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that 
the  stronger  animals  are  the  slower  in  breathing, 
possibly  on  account  of  their  size.  The  elephant, 
which  breathes  perhaps  six  times  a  minute,  is 
stronger  than  the  mouse,  which  breathes  over  a 
hundred  times.  Proper  breathing  alone  can  add 
not  only  strength  but  years  to  a  man's  life~~; 

The  choice  of  proper  food  for  the  stomach  is  a 
necessity  to  health.  It  must  nourish  the  body  and 
supply  blood,  which  is  the  fuel  which  the  engine 
must  have  to  do  the  work.  Without  proper  breath- 
ing all  the  food  in  the  world  can  do  no  good  in 
nourishing  the  blood.  In  fact,  good  food  becomes 
bad  food  if  it  is  not  affected  in  the  right  way  by  the 
air  in  the  lungs.  There  can  be  no  perfect  circula- 
tory apparatus  without  lung  power.  Without  good 
circulation  there  is  no  properly  nourished  blood. 
Without  nourished  blood  there  is  nothing  to  keep 
the  digestive  apparatus  going. 


70        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

Hence,  it  is  not  strange  to  find  that  deep,  regular, 
normal  breathing  is  a  most  effective  cure  for  dys- 
pepsia. The  absence  of  such  breathing  is  often  the 
primary  cause  of  such  complaint.  If  the  food  is 
improper  either  in  quantity  or  quality  there  can  be 
but  poor  assimilation.  The  quality  is  improper 
without  good  breathing.  In  proportion  as  we  are 
heavy  eaters  we  need  more  exercise,  and  exercise  to 
be  exercise  must  include  correct  breathing. 

As  a  preventive  of  consumption  or  a  cure  for  pul- 
monary complaints,  this  exercise  of  breathing  is 
invaluable.  But  it  should  be  employed  properly.  If 
not,  it  may  become  the  cause  of  just  such  diseases. 

A  good  style  of  breathing,  if  a  normal  position 
of  the  body  is  maintained  during  the  exercise,  can 
frequently  be  acquired  by  the  study  of  vocal  music 
under  a  competent  master.  By  paying  attention  to 
the  requirements  of  health  even  chorus  singing  can 
be  made  beneficial.  Too  frequently  a  master  knows 
only  rules  for  the  production  of  tone  without  regard 
to  health.  Under  intelligent  direction,  strain  of 
course  always  prohibited,  solo  singing  will  surely 
produce  normal  breathing  and  development  of  the 
lungs,  and  with  them  the  chest  and  chest  muscles. 
Gymnastic  exercises  could  not  do  better  in  certain 
lines.  The  same  effect  may  be  had  from  the 
playing  of  wind  instruments.  We  often  notice  the 
great  chest  development  of  some  clarionet,  cornet, 
saxhorn  or  tuba  player.     How  is  it,  then,  that  these 


i 


BREATHING.  71 

players  often  succumb  to  pulmonary  disease  ?  For 
one  thing,  because  their  lives  are  irregular,  and 
therefore  their  bodies  are  not  normally  healthy 
throughout;  for  another,  because  there  has  been 
strain.  This  strain  is  most  common  with  poor  or 
inexperienced  players,  who  do  not  know  how  to 
blow  their  instruments,  using  unnecessary  force. 
More  often  it  is  because  the  instrument  is  played 
and  the  lungs  exercised  while  the  body  is  in  a 
cramped  and  unnatural  position,  when  the  lungs 
are  not  free.  Under  such  circumstances  the  very 
exercise  which  develops  the  lungs  becomes  a  source 
of  danger  to  them  as  they  develop.  If  the  player 
had  not  exercised  at  all  he  would  have  lived  longer. 

The  use  of  deep,  regular  breathing  is  of  particu- 
lar value  when  the  air  is  unexceptionally  pure,  on 
mountain  top  or  at  sea,  for  instance.  In  such  places 
we  cannot  well  help  getting  some  invigorating  effect 
without  attention  on  our  part,  for  the  air  itself 
tempts  to  such  exercise.  Under  vSuch  circumstances 
we  are  surprised  at  our  abnormal  appetite,  which  is 
produced  entirely  by  the  breathing.  Balloonists 
tell  us  that  a  ravenous  appetite  is  one  of  the  pecu- 
liar effects  of  an  ascension. 

In  all  such  cases  the  true  rule  of  athletics,  mod- 
eration, still  holds  good.  It  is  better  to  eat  too  little 
than  too  much.  And  when  the  incentive  is  over, 
when  we  go  back  to  ordinary  air,  the  same  supply 
of  fuel  cannot  be  utilized  without  discomfort.  We 
must  not  expect  it. 


Equestrianism, 


O    t- 


V. 

Equestrianism. 

Probably  the  next  thing  which  the  seeker  after 
physical  improvement  will  consider,  particularly  if 
he  is  of  middle  age,  after  he  tires  of  systematic 
gymnastic  work,  either  with  apparatus  or  without, 
will  be  the  purchase  of  a  horse,  that  is,  if  he  is  pos- 
sessed of  the  requisite  means.  There  is  a  charm 
about  horsemanship  which  the  physically  needy 
man  discovers  from  afar.  It  seems  to  show  such 
excellent  results,  with  a  minimum  of  exertion  and 
a  maximum  of  pleasure.  Its  practice  appeals  to 
the  picturesque.  It  promises  either  solitude  or 
genial  companionship,  with  change  of  scene  at 
will. 

It  has  been  laid  down  as  a  maxim  that  riding 
is  the  best  exercise  for  regaining  health,  and  that 
walking  is  the  best  for  retaining  it.  In  that  case 
we  need  both  riding  and  walking.  Even  so.  We 
need  an  all-round  athletic  development  for  health. 
Anything  that  develops  only  a  portion  should  not 
be  practiced  exclusively.  Those  who  take  the 
view  that  riding  is  not  an  all-round  exercise,  claim 
that  it  is  only  those  whose  sluggish  digestion  needs 
a  good  shaking  up  that  find  great  benefit  in  it,  but 

(75) 


76       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

that  as  an  exercise  of  the  muscles  of  the  arms  for 
instance,  except  when  on  a  very  headstrong  horse, 
it  is  nil.  Of  course  it  is  not  a  violent  exercise  for 
the  arms,  but  the  arms  are  in  motion  with  some 
resistance,  at  least  as  much  as  in  bicycle  riding. 
But  if  we  look  at  it  in  the  light  that  all  exercise  is 
simply  the  means  of  getting  the  best  air  into  the 
body  in  the  greatest  quantity  and  with  the  greatest 
effect,  the  shaking  up  is  of  great  service,  for  full 
breathing  must  result  from  it. 

Riding  does,  in  the  most  effectual  way,  strengthen, 
by  exercise,  the  stomach,  liver  and  intestines. 
There  is  an  invention  by  means  of  which  a  dys- 
peptic patient  can,  with  his  arms,  use  levers 
attached  to  the  side  of  the  chair  which  he  occupies 
so  as  to  agitate  the  seat  and  shake  himself  up,  in 
exact  simulation  of  horseback  motion  on  a  trotting 
horse. 

Riding  can  be  indulged  in  extensively  or  not 
according  to  inclination  or  strength.  It  is  less 
tiresome  to  the  lower  limbs  than  walking,  as  the 
horse,  not  the  limbs,  carry  the  weight  of  the  body 
for  the  greater  part  of  the  time.  Persons  in  weak 
health  can  enjoy  moderate  horseback  exercise  with- 
out pain  or  difficulty. 

If  the  true  secret  of  healthful  exercise  is  to  so 
arrange  the  exercises  of  the  body  and  mind  that 
they  serve  as  relaxations  for  each  other,  then  a 
brisk  trot  in  the  pure  air  of  an  early  summer  day 


FIG.   7. 


EQUESTRIANISM.  77 

previous  to  beginning  a  day's  work  well  fills  the 
bill.  Those  who  have  experienced  the  exhilara- 
tion and  exquisite  refreshment  of  such  a  course  can 
testify  in  its  favor. 

To  gain  the  best  effect  the  exercise  must  have 
some  approach  to  regularity,  not,  however,  the 
regularity  of  a  certain  learned  judge,  with  more 
money  than  time,  who  felt  the  need  of  just  such 
exercise.  He  purchased  a  good  saddle  horse,  and 
regularly  on  every  Sunday  morning  before  break- 
fast, no  matter  whether  it  were  winter  or  summer, 
a  baking  day  or  a  sleeting  hurricane,  he  and  the 
horse  were  to  be  seen  returning  homeward  from 
the  ride  at  a  certain  fixed  hour.  The  exercise  was 
regular,  certainly.  No  one  could  gainsay  that. 
But  every  other  morning  of  the  seven  found  him 
in  his  study  without  the  exercise.  This  would 
hardly  give  the  rider  even  a  chance  to  attain  a 
comfortable  seat.  Certainly  advantage  gained  in 
the  one  day  would  have  sufficient  time  to  be  over- 
come in  the  other  six. 

In  Mr.  Dollman's  picture,  '' Warranted  Quiet," 
an  English  clergyman  is  dickering  with  a  jockey 
for  the  purchase  of  a  driving  horse.  I^eaving  the 
horse  out  of  the  question,  in  the  two  figures  of  the 
contracting  parties  who  stand  talking  [Fig.  7],  the 
artist  has  admirably  hit  the  popular  idea  of  the  dif- 
ference in  the  physical  culture  of  the  two  classes  of 
men.     If  there  is  any  truth  in  the  picture,  and  it 


FIG.   8. 


FIG.    9. 


EQUESTRIANISM.  79 

will  be  found  to  be  correct  to  a  greater  or  less 
degree  in  comparison  with  actual  life,  it  would 
indicate  that  there  is  some  virtue  in  horsemanship 
as  the  means  of  physical  development.  The  horse- 
man's figure  is  erect,  well  developed,  and  has  a 
strong  firm  carriage  of  the  head,  showing  well- 
developed  neck  muscles.  In  this  case  the  arms 
certainly  show  strength.  The  wide-apart  position 
of  the  legs  and  feet  which  suggests  the  position  in 
the  saddle,  gives  a  stand  about  as  easily  shaken  as 
a  rock.  The  figure  is  well  developed,  showing 
hearty  eating  and  ability  to  digest  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  nourishing  food,  which  could  only  be 
the  case  if  a  sufficient  quantity  of  air  had  been  con- 
sumed in  the  lungs.  Though  the  back  is  toward 
the  spectator,  its  broad  expanse  gives  promise  of 
ample  lung  power  within. 

In  the  other  figure,  that  of  the  shallow-chested, 
stooping,  weak-limbed,  illy-developed  clergyman, 
the  n  an  whose  home  is  in  a  study  and  not  in  the 
open  air,  there  is  strong  contrast.  Now  compare 
the  figures  of  these  same  two  men  as  they  would 
appear  physically  if  drawn  without  drapery,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  8.  The  effect  is  startling,  yet  it 
is  not  beyond  the  truth.  We  are  so  accustomed  to 
the  effect  of  drapery  that  we  do  not  notice  the  form 
beneath.  We  venture  to  say  that  if  we  should 
secure  the  nude  photograph  of  an  average  busi- 
ness man  of  to-day  and  place  it  against  a  similar 


80        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

photograph  of  a  trained  athlete,  the  effect  would 
be  as  startling.     I^et  us  see. 

We  have  in  Fig.  9,  life  studies  of  two  figures, 
one  a  man  who  has  been  a  professional  athlete,  and 
the  other  a  person  from  ordinary  life  of  somewhat 
similar  figure  to  that  of  the  unathletic  student. 
The  second  figure  only  differs  from  the  student  in 
this  particular.  Though  the  life  model  is  a 
deformed  person  by  reason  of  his  daily  occupation, 
that  occupation  was  one  requiring  strength,  not 
one  needing  no  strength  as  in  the  case  of  the  parson. 
The  deformed  figure  is  that  of  a  strong  man.  The 
exercise  which  produced  the  strength  was  wrongly 
applied,  was  taken  in  improper  ways.  Even  at 
the  same  employment,  more  care  would  have  given 
much  better  results. 

We  furthermore  venture  to  say  that  if  the  aver- 
age business  man  referred  to,  were  even  a  person 
interested  in  athletics,  which  usually  means  only 
as  a  spectator,  be  he  bank  clerk,  lawyer,  book- 
keeper, merchant,  or  what  not,  the  clergyman's 
figure  will  be  very  near  the  type.  Any  man  may 
examine  this  statement  for  himself. 

This  wrong  development  would  be  due,  not  only 
to  want  of  exercise,  but  to  want  of  outdoor  life.  It 
is  sometimes  counted  sufficient,  particularly  in 
fashionable  life,  to  take  winter  horseback  exercise 
in  the  ring  for  a  certain  fixed  amount  of  time. 
Ring  riding  should  be  considered  simply  preparation 


PERSIAN  HORSEMANSHIP— DARIUS  SAI^UTED  AS  KING  OF  PERSIA. 


82        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

to  learn  the  art,  the  aim  being  to  gain  the  open 
later,  whether  winter  or  summer.  Fashionable 
riding  in  any  event  in  most  localities,  usually 
confines  itself  to  spring  and  fall.  In  winter  it  is 
too  cold  or  otherwise  unsuitable,  in  summer  too 
hot.  The  art,  learned  only  because  it  is  the  cor- 
rect thing  to  do,  does  not  amount  to  much  in  phy- 
sical development.  An  important  point  in  favoi 
of  riding  is  that  it  should  take  one  away  from  the 
crowded  city,  with  its  polluted  air  and  fashionable 
life,  for  a  time  at  least. 

Bicycle  riding  gives  the  exercise  of  horseback 
riding  to  but  a  limited  extent.  Those  who  can 
afford  it  should  take  the  living  horse  in  preference, 
even  if  he  does  cost  to  keep,  and  tires  at  times. 
The  peculiar  shaking  up  which  he  gives  will 
well  repay  the  outlay  in  a  better  condition  of  the 
whole  physical  system. 

To  get  the  best  results  you  must  have  a  liking 
for  the  exercise  and  for  the  animal.  Timidity  has 
no  place  in  the  saddle.  Few  outdoor  amusements 
apparently  seem  so  full  of  danger  to  life  and  limb, 
and  so  it  is,  without  pluck.  If  timid,  better  let 
riding  alone.  The  hours  of  exercise  will  be  hours 
of  torture,  both  to  yourself  and  horse. 

Again,  a  proper  selection  of  horse  must  be  made. 


With  the  Persian  method  of  riding,  as  seen  in  the  figure  of  Darius  on 
page  8i,  may  be  contrasted  the  method  of  the  Grecian  horsemen  on  page 
83,  from  the  frieze  of  the  Temple  of  Minerva  in  the  Acropolis  at  Athens. 


84        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

All  horses  are  not  saddle  horses,  even  as  all  men  are 
not  riders.  The  horse  must  suit  the  man,  his  weight 
and  other  requirements,  as  much  as  a  cycle  must  fit. 

Again,  the  saddle  must  fit  both  horse  and  rider, 
giving  an  equal  distribution  of  the  weight;  and  the 
bridle  the  horse.  A  good  saddle  horse  with  a  poor 
bit  becomes  a  poor  saddle  horse. 

As  this  is  not  a  textbook,  we  cannot  go  into 
details,  but  the  whole  art  as  well  as  the  grace  of  it 
is  summed  up  in  this  couplet : 

Your  head  and  your  heart  keep  boldly  up, 
Your  hands  and  your  heels  keep  down, 

Your  legs  keep  close  to  your  horse's  sides 
And  your  elbows  close  to  your  own. 

Rising  in  the  saddle,  merely  as  a  matter  of  exer- 
cise, is  excellent,  and  is  the  only  safe  way  to  ride  a 
heavy  trotter.  It  has  the  advantage  of  adding  cer- 
tain muscles  to  the  list  of  those  exercised  in  riding, 
and  prevents  all  danger  of  anurism  or  rupture  from 
riding  heavy-gaited  horses.  By  this  means  the  gait 
can  be  tempered  at  will. 

Riding  has  been  found  of  value  to  sufferers  from 
both  physical  and  mental  ailments.  It  is  a  great 
aid  in  re-establishing  the  health  of  one  who  is 
broken  down  by  study  or  the  cares  of  his  business. 
Consumption  in  the  early  stages,  general  debility, 

The  figure  on  page  85,  from  a  rare  engraving,  is  a  likeness  of  a  certain 
noted  character,  and  might  be  said  to  represent  riding  for  pleasure  in 
1814. 


86        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

insomnia  and  certain  kinds  of  niuscnlar  and  nervous 
aiFections  yield  readily  to  the  healthful  effects  of  the 
exercise.  Nothing  is  so  efficacious  in  breaking  up 
a  cold  as  a  brisk  ride.  Of  course  any  one  afflicted 
with  an  organic  disease  which  would  prohibit  such 
a  thing,  cannot  enjoy  it  beneficially. 

Riding  is  so  different  from  all  other  forms  of 
exercise  that  it  has  a  field  of  its  own.  In  certain 
ways  it  is  never  exactly  alike  on  two  different 
occasions. 

As  a  relaxation  the  very  nature  of  the  exercise 
at  once  takes  a  man  out  of  himself.  The  mere  fact 
of  his  being  seated  in  the  saddle,  reins  in  hand, 
turns  his  thoughts  into  a  new  direction.  Troubles 
are  forgotten,  both  real  and  imaginary.  Some- 
thing new  each  day  engages  the  attention  of  the 
mind.  In  a  certain  sense  the  horse  is  doing  the 
work  and  the  man  is  getting  the  exercise. 

If  any  man  doubts,  let  him  make  an  experiment. 
Suppose  he  is  worried  about  a  certain  thing  and 
wishes  to  consider  it  thoroughly.  In  place  of  lock- 
ing himself  in  a  room  to  brood  over  it,  going  over 
and  over  the  same  reasons,  the  same  questions  and 
answers,  without  reaching  any  solution  of  the  dif- 
ficulty, let  him  take  it  out  with  him  on  horseback. 
It  cannot  be  guaranteed  that  when  he  returns  the 
difficulty  will  have  been  overcome,  but  it  will  have 
disappeared.  He  has  left  it  behind.  Who  ever 
heard  of  taking  one's  troubles  to  ride  with  him? 


DOWN   IN    FRONT. 
Reproduced  by  permission  of  I^ouis  A.  KeiUch. 


EQUESTRIANISM.  87 

But  it  is  possible  to  get  on  your  horse  and  ride 
away  from  tliem.  They  will  go  with  you  if  you 
have  a  spare  seat  in  a  buggy.  After  the  ride  they 
may  not  have  changed  any,  but  you  will  find  that 
you  do  not  care  which  way  they  are  settled.  At  all 
events  you  can  now  consider  them  without  so  much 
mental  fatigue,  and  your  mind  and  judgment  are  in 
better  condition  to  reach  a  satisfactory  conclusion. 

As  a  direct  influencer  of  disease,  horseback 
riding,  properly  done,  has  great  value.  If  the 
blood  is  too  great  in  quantity  and  too  rich  in 
quality,  causing  distention  of  the  capillaries,  turgid 
veins  and  obesity,  horseback  riding  is  a  corrective. 
The  tendency  to  the  development  of  an  excessive 
amount  of  fat  can  be  corrected  by  riding,  coupled 
with  moderation  and  diet.  In  ladies,  young  girls 
especially,  this  is  the  proper  remedy  for  embonpomt^ 
not  acid  drink  or  drugs  which  by  disturbing  the 
general  health  not  only  reduce  the  fat  but  do  away 
with  beauty  as  well. 

If  the  complaint  is  the  poorness  of  blood,  thin  in 
quality  and  little  of  it,  again  riding  is  a  remedy. 
The  pale  colorless  face,  languidness,  and  general 
debility  are  the  marks  of  such  a  complaint,  and  if 
unchecked  they  will  soon  be  followed  by  serious 
results. 

Diseases  of  the  nervous  system,  the  brain  and 
spinal  column,  namely,  hypochondriasis,  hysteria, 
chorea,  etc.,  are  amenable  to  this   exercise.     For 


88        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

such  use  the  rides  must  be  short  and  the  horse  easy 
gaited.  Early  morning  is  the  best  time  and  the 
exercise  should  never  be  prolonged  enough  to 
induce  fatigue. 

Horseback  exercise  is  the  greatest  antidote  for 
that  most  dreaded,  most  wearisome  and  most  com- 
mon ailment  of  nervous,  brain-worked  people,  in- 
somnia. It  is  the  best  curative  agent  known,  and 
insomnia  once  cured  by  regular  daily  horseback 
riding,  the  cure  remains,  even  though  it  may  be 
necessary  to  discontinue  the  exercise. 

As  to  the  aid  given  in  the  early  stages  of  consump- 
tion, which  aid  is  genuine,  the  good  results  come 
more  than  anything  else  from  the  enforced  regular 
breathing  of  pure  air,  and  are  beneficial  in  so  far 
as  the  health  and  strength  of  the  lungs  are  built 
up  with  the  rest  of  the  system,  and  to  the  extent 
that  strain  is  avoided.  This  form  of  cure  is  usually 
begun  by  the  patient  sitting  on  a  horse  which  is 
lead  by  a  groom  at  a  very  slow  walk.  As  the 
patient  improves  and  the  afternoon's  hectic  flush 
gives  place  to  the  morning  bloom  in  his  cheeks, 
the  exercise  is  increased  until  the  chest  expands, 
the  muscles  develop,  the  appetite  comes  again,  the 
cough  disappears  and  with  it  the  night  sweats. 
Many  such  cures  are  matter  of  record  and  the  wit- 
nesses are  now  living. 

But  greater  results  have  been  obtained  not  from 
curing  the  sick,  but  by  keeping  men  well.      Dr. 


EQUESTRIANISM.  89 

Holmes  says,  "The  outside  of  a  horse  is  good  for 
the  inside  of  a  man,"  not  necessarily  as  horse  flesh 
food,  however.  Horseback  exercise  is  hard  on 
food,  for  the  processes  of  digestion  and  assimilation 
are  at  once  put  upon  their  best  footing  with  the 
rider.  Whoever  got  off  a  saddle  after  a  good  ride 
without  feeling  hungry?  In  the  trial  of  health 
against  disease  a  change  of  venue  is  of  value  at 
times.  Transfer  the  trial  from  the  sick  room  to 
the  saddle  and  open  air,  where  all  the  surroundings 
are  not  prejudiced  against  the  prisoner  and  leagued 
against  allowing  him  to  escape. 

Equestrianism  for  ladies  will  always  be  popular 
so  far  as  means  will  allow,  and  it  would  be  more 
practiced  if  more  attention  were  called  to  it.  One 
recommendation  in  the  eyes  of  the  sex  is  possibly  in 
the  fact  that  nowhere  else  will  a  woman's  charms 
be  so  apparent  as  on  horseback.  Many  a  plain 
woman  on  foot  looks  truly  queenlike  in  the  saddle. 

Most  women  think  that  to  own  a  habit  with 
other  paraphernalia,  and  to  have  the  ability  to  sit  a 
gentle  horse  is  all  that  is  necessary.  They  must 
have  what  they  call  a  ladies'  horse,  which  is  a  horse 
that  can  canter  and  canter  only.  For  exercise  this 
is  just  what  she  does  not  want,  for  then  all  she  has 
to  do  is  to  control  her  horse  while  sitting  passive. 
She  should  learn  to  ride  a  trotter.  She  needs  the 
motion  and  she  should  use  her  muscles  in  breaking 
the  jar  of  the  horse's  gait. 


90         ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

One  great  objection  to  horseback  riding  for  ladies 
as  at  present  practiced,  particularly  for  ladies  with 
weak  spines  or  those  prone  to  lateral  curvature  of 
the  spine,  is  the  use  of  the  side  saddle.  While 
using  the  side  saddle  the  spine  is  curved  laterally 
or  rather  twisted  [Fig.  lo]  and  always  to  the  same 
side.  A  healthful  woman  can  stand  the  strain  with- 
out injury  while  doing  a  moderate  amount  of 
riding,  for  the  reason  that  she  alternates  with  other 
positions  when  not  on  horseback.  But  to  one  who 
is  compelled  to  be  in  a  saddle  habitually  it  may  be 
very  harmful,  and  those  compelled  to  do  so  invari- 
ably adopt  means  of  meeting  the  difficulty  which 
are  not  so  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  regula- 
tions of  polite  society. 

I^adies'  saddles  have  been  made  double  and  also 
reversible  so  that  they  can  be  ridden  on  either  side. 
The  rider  may  then  alternate  and  not  only  avoid 
injury  but  fatigue  as  well.  If  a  double  saddle  or  a 
reversible  saddle  is  too  clumsy,  inventive  genius  is 
equal  to  producing  a  light  serviceable  reversible 
saddle. 

There  is,  however,  no  earthly  reason  why  a  man's 
saddle  cannot  be  used  by  women,  save  that  it  is 
not  the  fashion.  Young  girls  who  take  to  horse- 
back riding  naturally,  where  they  have  the  facili- 
ties in  country  homes,  find  that  cross  riding,  which 
they  copy  from  the  way  their  brothers  ride,  is  far 
more  comfortable  than  the  ladies'  way.     Were  they 


^ 


4»A         V- 


FIG.  lO.— POSITION  OF  THE  SPINAI.   COI^UMN   IN  SIDE- 
SADDI^E  RIDING. 


EQUESTRIANISM.  91 

allowed  to  ride  so,  it  would  not  be  necessary  to 
prohibit  them  the  use  of  a  horse  at  a  certain  age 
when  they  complain  of  pains  in  the  spine.  In 
these  days  of  equestrian  tights,  bisected  skirts, 
short  riding  habits  and  leggings,  it  is  not  impossible 
to  devise  a  habit  which  would  meet  all  require- 
ments of  modesty,  as  well  as  grace,  and  allow  the 
use  of  a  cross-saddle.  The  same  cry  was  raised 
against  the  short  riding  skirt,  when  it  was  first 
introduced  in  place  of  the  very  dangerous  long 
habit.  We  have  also  had  outcry  against  immodest 
women  who  rode  tricycles.  Now  behold  we  have 
modest  and  graceful  women  riding  not  tricycles, 
but  bicycles,  who  would  be  no  more  out  of  place 
if  riding  a  horse  man-fashion.  On  the  ground  of 
safety  alone  this  method  often  has  necessarily  to 
be  adopted  by  women  in  certain  dangerous  locali- 
ties.    The  seat  is  so  much  more  secure. 

Says  the  Medical  Record :  "The  popularity  of 
bicycle  riding  among  women  has  made  it  more 
possible  for  women  to  accept  the  idea  of  riding  en 
cavalier.,  an  idea  which  is  being  put  in  actual  prac- 
tice. In  other  words,  cross-saddle  riding  with 
divided  skirts  has  gained  a  certain  amount  of  recog- 
nition in  a  number  of  localities.  It  has  been 
found  that  ladies  look  well,  ride  more  safely  and 
get  better  exercise  in  the  new  way.  There  has 
been  a  vague  idea  that  any  other  method  of  riding 
by  ladies  than  by  side-saddle  would  be  injurious. 


92  ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  practice  of  using  the  side- 
saddle has  been  adopted  because  it  adapts  itself  to 
modern  dress,  and  because  without  a  special  dress 
no  other  method  would  be  suitable.  But  cross- 
saddle  riding  is  the  safer  way.  It  permits  of  a  better 
and  freer  use  of  the  limbs  and  makes  the  exercise 
more  effective.  All  this  will  not  make  women 
adopt  it,  however.  A  large  number  of  lady  riders 
take  the  exercise  to  avoid  the  unpleasant  effects  of 
too  much  fat.  Side-saddle  riding  does  not  make 
fat  women  thin,  however,  but,  if  anything,  enlarges 
the  hips.  Cross-saddle  riding  is  more  effective, 
because  a  wider  range  of  muscles  can  be  used  and 
harder  riding  indulged  in." 

The  style  of  riding  by  ladies  with  cross-saddle  is 
already  well  established  on  the  Pacific  coast.  It 
turns  out  to  be,  after  all,  like  most  new  fashions, 
only  an  old  mode  revived.  In  the  early  days  all 
women  used  the  cross-saddle,  and  they  might  be 
riding  in  the  same  way  still  but  for  an  accident  of 
fortune.  It  appears  that  one  Anna,  of  Bohemia, 
wife  of  an  English  king,  invented  the  side-saddle, 
not  from  any  delicate  repulsion  to  the  mode  in 
vogue,  but  because  she  was  afflicted  with  some 
deformity  which  made  it  impossible  for  her  to  ride 
upon  the  saddles  in  common  use — and  riding  for 
women  was  imperative  in  those  days.  Ever  since 
then  women  have  been  trying  to  believe  themselves 
safe  and  comfortable  on  the  side-saddle  in  the  heavv 


I 


EQUESTRIANISM.  93 

skirts  which  invariably  catch  in  the  pommel  with 
most  disastrous  results  in  case  of  accident.  They 
have  reduced  the  long-flowing  skirts  to  a  short, 
scant  petticoat,  reaching  only  to  the  stirrup.  To 
the  women  of  the  Pacific  slope  a  horseback  ride 
means  something  besides  a  little  spin  in  the  park 
followed  by  a  groom,  when  decorum  rather  than 
enjoyment  is  the  chief  point.  The  Western  woman 
goes  half  a  day's  journey  for  her  ride;  she  clears 
fences  and  gates,  she  picks  her  way  along  perilous 
trails,  where  it  is  necessary  to  make  it  as  easy  for 
her  horse  as  possible,  as  well  as  to  have  a  sure  seat 
and  a  comfortable  position  herself. 

Some  years  ago  a  San  Francisco  horsewoman, 
and  an  accomplished  rider,  began  to  ask  herself 
why  she  was  so  weary  and  exhausted  when  she 
went  with  her  husband  for  long  rides  from  which 
he  returned  refreshed  and  rested.  She  decided 
that  it  was  because  the  heavy  skirt  hampered  her, 
and  while  he  could  raise  himself  in  his  stirrups 
when  the  road  was  rough,  she,  in  her  unnatural 
and  cramped  position,  was  obliged  to  take  all  the 
jolts.  Accordingly,  the  woman  experimented  with 
a  riding  costume  until  she  found  one  that  enabled 
her  to  sit  her  horse  in  what  she  considered  a  rational 
manner.  When  she  first  put  it  on  she  discovered 
that  it  was  not  pleasant  to  be  a  pioneer  in  any 
movement.  She  wore  her  divided  skirts  and  rode 
in  her  man's  saddle  for  the  first  three  months  only 


94  ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

after  dark.  When  she  first  appeared  in  daylight 
small  boys  made  audible  remarks  and  larger  boys 
said  nothing,  but  kept  up  a  good  deal  of  thinking. 
Finally  sense  prevailed  over  prejudice  and  the 
majority  decided  that  they  did  like  it  very  much 
indeed.  The  strong  argument  that  prevailed  with 
the  fathers  and  brothers  and  husbands  of  women 
riders  was  the  added  safety  of  the  method.  The 
woman  who  rides  astride  has  some  hold  on  her 
horse  and  some  support  from  her  stirrups,  argue 
the  supporters  of  the  new  movement,  and  does  not 
come  tumbling  off  like  a  lump  of  lead  if  her  horse 
shies.  The  cross-saddle  riders  become  equally 
developed  in  figure,  and  the  right  foot,  which 
grows  weaker  than  the  left  with  much  side-saddle 
riding,  becomes  strong  again.  Stout  women  reduce 
their  flesh  symmetrically  in  the  man's  saddle,  be- 
sides enjoying  the  exercise  with  no  fear  of  falling 
Then  the  new  mode  of  riding  is  much  more  quickly 
learned  than  the  old,  consequently  the  riding  mas 
ters  do  not  think  the  new  mode  graceful  or  modest, 
With  the  livery  stable  keepers  it  is  different, 
They  are  all  enthusiastically  in  favor  of  cross-saddle 
riding,  because  it  makes  a  world  of  difference  with 
the  horses.  Almost  any  day  a  dozen  ladies  may  be 
seen  riding  the  man's  saddle  in  the  man's  fashion 
in  the  public  park  at  San  Francisco.  In  Alameda 
and  Oakland  there  are  also  a  considerable  contin- 
gent  of  riders,    for    the    small  places   seem   best 


pm^ 


#• 

f' 


EQUESTRIANISM.  95 

adapted  for  cross-saddle  riding,  as  there  is  more 
freedom  and  less  comment.  Among  the  Oakland 
riders  there  is  one  young  woman  who  has  the  unique 
distinction  of  being  one  of  the  few  women  who 
ride  en  cavalier  without  a  saddle  at  all.  She 
learned  to  ride  in  this  way  in  the  mountains,  and 
continues  the  practice  in  the  city.  Her  horse 
'wears  simply  a  blanket,  with  the  stirrups  strapped 
on  over  it.  California  girls  are  the  best  and  most 
fearless  riders  in  the  country.  They  take  to  the 
saddle  as  a  duck  to  water.  There  are  divided 
skirts  kept  constantly  for  hire  at  the  stables  in  the 
Yosemite  Valley,  and  ladies  not  accustomed  to  rid- 
ing are  strongly  recommended  to  use  the  man's  sad- 
dle as  being  safer  and  less  fatiguing  for  the  trails, 
lyadies  who  are  accustomed  to  side-saddle  riding 
declare  unanimously  in  favor  of  the  cross-saddle 
for  the  hard  riding,  after  making  the  trial. 

The  well-known  rider.  Miss  Hutchinson,  of  Den- 
ver, who  rode  in  the  thousand  mile  race  from 
Chadron,  Neb.,  to  the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago,  at 
the  average  rate  of  fifty  miles  a  day,  always  adopts 
cross-saddle  riding  when  out  rounding  up  stock  or 
on  the  trail,  as  she  did  in  the  thousand-mile  race. 
When  in  town  she  rides  an  ordinary  side-saddle, 
in  which  it  would  not  be  possible  to  manage  the 
vicious  horses  which  she  dares  to  ride  when  on  the 
plains.  Miss  Hutchinson  has  on  several  occasions 
covered  450  miles  in  seven  days  using  relays  of 
horses,  riding  a  cross-saddle. 


96  ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

In  some  of  our  Eastern  cities  we  now  begin  to 
see  ladies  in  cross-saddles,  and  even  the  boys  are 
beginning  to  get  accustomed  to  the  sight.  It  is  a 
question  whether  the  cross-saddle  illustrations  here 
given  as  novelties  will  not  soon  cease  to  command 
notice,  on  account  of  the  frequent  appearance  of 
such  figures  in  public. 

The  costume  for  such  riding  first  proposed  in 
Germany,  where  cross-saddle  riding  for  ladies  was 
suggested  many  years  ago,  consisted  of  turkish 
trousers,  covered  by  a  kind  of  ulster,  which  was 
divided  in  the  middle.  It  was  buttoned  up  while 
walking,  and  appeared  like  any  other  ulster  [Fig.  1 1]. 
But  in  the  saddle  it  could  be  thrown  apart  and  the 
front  and  back  buttoned  together  on  the  sides  by  a 
single  button,  to  hold  it  open  [Fig.  12].  This  was, 
however,  a  clumsy  arrangement  and  was  not  popular. 
It  was  worn  by  a  few  reformers  in  Berlin,  and  was 
tried  in  Hyde  Park,  London.  It  has  also  been  seen 
in  Central  Park,  New  York. 

The  costume  worn  by  lady  cross-saddle  riders  of 
to-day  usually  consists  of  equestrian  tights,  any  sort 
of  shoe  and  cloth  gaiters  to  the  knee.  Over  the 
tights  is  worn  a  divided  skirt,  full  enough  to  hang 
gracefully,  and  of  the  same  cloth  and  material  as 
the  outside  garment.  This  skirt  is  walking  length 
and  is  worn  with  a  blouse  of  India  silk  in  summer 
and  cloth  in  winter.  If  the  skirt  is  made  full 
enough,   and  of  walking  length,  it  can  be  worn 


EQUESTRIANISM. 


97 


when  dismounted  without  special  comment,  though 
an  ulster  has  been  worn  with  it,  made  somewhat 
similar  to  that  shown  in  Fig.  ii. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  charm  of  companionship 
in  riding,  not  in- 
deed necessarily 
on  the  same  ani- 
mal. Many  a  fel- 
low-man s  i  m  i  - 
larly  situated  can 
be  found,  who 
will  turn  his 
horse's  head  in 
the  same  direc- 
tion as  yours. 

The  crowning 
charm  of  riding 
is  in  the  making 
of  long  tours 
through  the 
country  by  easy 
stages  in  com- 
pany, though 
they  are  agreeable 
even  alone.  Hunting  meets  or  bag  hunting  may 
not  be  very  desirable  as  moderate  regular  exercise. 
As  for  horse  racing,  that  is  not  athletics  at  all. 
For  the  jockey  it  is  hard  and  injurious  work  with 
great  risks. 


98         ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

If  you  want  to  get  your  horseback  exercise 
cheap,  and  at  the  same  time  get  the  maximum  of 
exercise,  do  your  own  grooming  and  caring  for 
the  horse.  To  be  at  the  beck  and  call  of  a  horse 
for  any  great  number  of  days,  is  equivalent  to  being 
worked  by  the  hour  at  a  gymnastic  machine. 
There  must  be  regularity.  The  horse  will  not  hear 
of  anything  else.  There  is  no  let  up  to  it.  Then 
indeed  one  seems  to  tire  of  the  regularity. 

A  fault  in  horseback  riding  is  that  as  a  man 
profits  by  the  exercise  he  grows  lazy.  He  no  longer 
wishes  to  take  the  trouble  to  ride  regularly.  It  is 
too  much  exertion.  He  makes  the  excuse  that  he 
would  like  to  take  his  wife  along  sometimes  without 
keeping  two  horses  and  without  the  trouble  of 
preparation  for  the  ride.  On  this  plea  he  buys  a 
buggy.  It  is  but  slight  additional  expense  he  says, 
as  he  has  the  animal.  So  he  takes  to  driving.  He 
does  not  get  so  much  exercise  as  on  horseback,  but 
it  may  perhaps  be  as  well  to  let  well  enough  alone. 
He  had  better  by  far  do  that  than  not  go  out  at  all. 
But  as  the  physical  benefit  of  this  occupation  is 
due  solely  to  the  fact  that  it  takes  him  out  of  doors, 
and  not  to  the  exercise,  it  will  not  be  considered 
here  but  under  the  head  of  "  Out-Door  Life." 


FIG.    12. 


Cycling. 


VI. 

Cycling. 

It  is  more  than  likely  that  if  a  live  horse  is  unat- 
tainable, the  would-be  equestrian,  even  of  mature 
age,  will  consider  the  physical  improvement  claims 
of  a  bicycle.  As  to  the  question  of  the  expense  of 
the  latter,  though  the  first  cost  is  not  small,  the 
terms  are  made  to  suit,  and  the  charges  for  keep 
are  light.  Doctors'  bills  for  the  repair  of  broken 
cycle  bones  are  an  item  in  the  maintenance  of  this 
horse  that  stands  without  hitching,  that  never 
tires  nor  feeds,  and  does  not  run  away;  the  worst 
he  can  do  being  to  lie  down  under  his  rider.  Medi- 
cal charges  for  care  of  bruised  and  broken  cyclists 
themselves  have  decreased  since  the  death  of  the 
high  wheel.  It  is  to  be  said  in  favor  of  cycle  acci- 
dents, however,  that  cyclists  as  a  class,  being  in 
prime  physical  condition,  have  stood  the  wear  and 
tear  of  cycle  experiments  remarkably  well. 

The  cycle  is  a  compromise  between  a  carriage 
and  legs,  as  a  man's  legs  are  themselves  a  com- 
promise to  adapt  themselves  to  varying  require- 
ments. It  is  hard  to  suit  all  wants.  We  have 
never  been  able  to  make  a  walking  motor  success- 
fully.    The  tendency  is  to  wheels.     The  wheels 

(103) 


lOi      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 


do  what  legs  cannot  under  certain  conditions.  A 
man  made  with  wheels  instead  of  legs  would  be  an 
improvement  under  certain  circumstances;  under 
others  he  would  be  a  failure.  His  legs  have  to  do 
his  work  more  or  less  perfectly  under  all  conditions. 
He  can  advance  with  them  under  entirely  opposite 
conditions,  on  land  and  in  water.  They  are  not 
especially  made  for  speed,  but  they  will  carry 
either  on  a  level  or  on  rough  ground,  in  a  swamp 
or  up  a   mountain-side.     A  cycle  can  be  used  in 

connection  with  a 
man's  legs  to  bet- 
ter advantage  only 
under  one  c  o  n  d  i  - 
tion,  over  a  mod- 
erately even  road. 
If  the  conditions 
are  favorable  the 
cycle  can  far  exceed 
the  speed  of  legs  alone.  But  let  the  cycle  try  to 
work  up  a  steep  hillside,  in  underbrush,  or  on 
moorland,  and  it  is  a  failure. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  one  person  out  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty  inhabitants  of  the  United 
States  now  owns  or  rides  a  bicycle.  If  we  come 
to  examine  how  this  result  was  brought  about,  we 
shall  probably  be  compelled  to  admit  that  it  was 
due  not  so  much  to  inherent  excellence  in  the 
exercise  itself,  for  many  good  things  do  not  become 


PRIMITIVE. 


CYCLING. 


105 


popular,  but  by  the  persistent  work  of  the  manu- 
facturers, who  have  put  time,  money  and  energy 
into  furthering  the  sport,  though  undoubtedly  for 
the  ultimate  good  of  the  people.  Would  that  in 
some  other  lines  as  well  disposed  persons  would  do 
as  much. 

The  introduction  of  this  sport  has  been  a  thing 
of  the  greatest  difficulty.     Not  only  has  it  had  to 


PROGRESSIVE. 

stand  an  unusual  amount  of  ridicule,  but  blind 
prejudice  to  a  remarkable  degree  has  been  its 
opponent.  Boys  and  dogs  have  been  set  upon  it. 
The  law  has  been  invoked  against  it.  Cycle 
manufacturing  capital  has  withstood  the  law's  offi- 
cers and  has  had  the  laws  amended.  Because 
horses  have  shown  a  disposition  at  times  to  inquire 


106      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

into  the  strange-looking  contrivance  when  new, 
and  refused  to  go  on  with  the  proceedings  until 
their  curiosity  was  satisfied,  cycles  have  been  kept 
out  of  parks  and  public  places  by  police  vigilance, 
until  test  cases  were  made  and  tried.  Horses  from 
time  immemorial  have  shown  the  same  disposition 
toward  circus  posters,  heaps  of  old  bricks,  bands 
of  music,  bright-colored  parasols  and  locomotives, 
and  yet  locomotives  are  still  allowed  to  cross 
prominent  city  streets  at  grade  in  midday.  In 
this  particular  the  horses,  if  they  did  object,  were 
but  aping  their  masters.  The  writer  can  well 
remember  when  the  innocent  game  of  croquet  was 
in  its  infancy,  what  wire-pulling  and  trouble  it 
took  to  get  permission  to  play  it  in  a  secluded  cor- 
ner of  a  large  city  park  containing  many  square 
miles.  Nothing  could  be  done  in  that  line  until 
the  august  officials  were  satisfied.  The  players 
even  had  to  go  further  and  appear  before  the 
' '  Board ' '  itself,  describe  the  game  and  plead 
for  it. 

"Would  it  not  frighten  horses?"  asked  the 
president. 

"Would  not  the  hitting  of  hard  wooden  balls  by 
wooden  mallets  be  violent?"  asked  another. 

' '  Might  not  someone  trip  over  the  hoops  in 
walking?"  asked  a  third. 

' '  Yes,  if  he  were  fool  enough  to  walk  in  that 
way, ' '  was  the  reply. 


CYCLING.  107 

' '  Might  not  someone  get  hit  in  mistake  by  a 
mallet?"  inquired  another. 

"Might  it  not  hurt  the  grass?"  was  another 
inquiry. 

' '  It  might, ' '  was  the  reply,  ' '  but  that  is  what 
the  grass  is  for. ' ' 

In  relation  to  this  ' '  keep  off  the  grass ' '  nuisance, 
which  is  the  bugbear  of  many  city  athletic  sports, 
it  might  be  well  to  inquire  just  what  city  park 
grass  is  raised  for.  Is  it  only  to  be  looked  at? 
If  so,  it  should  be  kept  under  glass.  Some  city 
officials  do  not  understand  the  uses  of  city  parks. 
The  refusal  to  allow  the  use  of  a  certain  city  park 
for  a  military  review  in  honor  of  a  noted  personage 
was  well  enough  in  its  way,  for  it  was  not  what 
the  park  was  for.  In  return  for  the  damage  the 
citizens  would  not  get  an  increased  profitable  use 
of  the  breathing-spot.  But  when  it  was  sought  to 
justify  such  use  by  saying  that  a  base-ball  game 
would  injure  it  much  more,  that  was  a  different 
matter.  The  city  would  be  better  if  the  parks 
were  injured  daily  by  base-ball  games,  if  only  all 
the  spectators  took  part,  even  though  it  might 
have  to  pay  daily  to  have  the  damage  repaired. 

This  city  park  keep-oif-the-grass  management 
was  once  shown  in  a  very  ludicrous  light  to  a 
wealthy  Englishman  traveling  in  America,  who  at 
home  was  used  to  the  thick  turf  and  shady  lanes 
which  his  moist  climate  encpurages.     On  reaching 


108      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

the  city  of  Washington  he  desired  to  see  what  he 
termed  the  ''Obelisk,"  meaning  the  Washington 
Monnment.  The  surrounding  grounds  were  at 
that  time  but  mud  banks,  but  the  sign,  "Keep 
off  the  Grass"  was  prominently  displayed  every- 
where in  anticipation.  Our  English  friend  natu- 
rally took  a  short  cut  to  the  monument,  and  was 
stopped  by  an  Irish  policeman  who  would  not  hear 
his  protestations  that  he  could  see  no  grass.  The 
Englishman  supposed  that  it  was  a  case  of  black- 
mail, on  account  of  the  opposing  nationality  and 
offered  a  dollar  to  the  Hibernian,  which  so  highly 
insulted  him  that  the  Englishman  was  marched 
off  to  headquarters  forthwith,  possibly  to  be  kept 
until  there  was  grass,  so  that  a  technical  violation 
of  law  could  be  proven.  He  must  have  been 
released  at  some  time,  for  he  lived  to  tell  the  tale, 
a  free  man  once  more. 

But  we  wander,  as  cyclists  are  prone  to.  The 
remedy  is  the  same  with  us  as  with  them.  Let 
alone  and  they  will  return. 

The  proportion  of  those  who  use  cycles  in  the 
United  States  is  not  an  abnormally  large  one  com- 
pared with  other  countries.  The  sport  has  now 
secured  a  good  hold  everywhere  in  the  whole 
world.  It  is  more  than  a  sport;  it  is  a  recreation 
with  exercise,  and  has  beside  many  practical  uses. 
Though  it  does  not  exercise  all  the  muscles  of  the 
body,  it  exercises  many  not  in  general  use.    It  should 


CYCLING.  109 

properly  be  supplemented  with  other  exercises.  In 
a  way  it  does  this  itself,  for  when  walking  up  hills, 
which  it  is  not  advisable  to  climb  awheel,  the 
rider  gets  a  rest  for  one  set  of  muscles  and  use  for 
others.  Then  not  only  those  used  in  walking  are 
thus  exercised  but  the  muscles  of  the  arms  are  used 
in  pushing  the  machine.  Cycle  riding  itself,  in 
moderation,  affects  more  particularly  the  muscles 
of  the  calves  of  the  legs  and  thighs,  and  in  a  supple 
not  a  hard  way.  Cycling  to  excess,  however,  only 
tends  to  weaken  and  emaciate  the  same  muscles. 

In  bicycle  racing  or  in  running  against  time  lies 
the  greatest  danger.  It  is  well  enough  for  trained 
athletes  in  the  pay  of  manufacturers  to  show  what 
can  be  done  in  long  distance  runs,  or  in  speed  as 
against  a  trotting  horse,  for  the  sake  of  adding 
interest  to  the  sport  or  to  show  its  possibilities,  but 
these  feats  in  themselves  are  not  what  the  health 
seeker  wishes  to  emulate.  Record  breaking  is  a 
great  source  of  unsymmetrical  bodies.  The  rider 
should  wish  to  advance  himself  in  the  art  of  riding 
sufficiently  well  to  enable  him  to  enjoy  change  of 
scene  and  air.  If  he  chooses  to  make  a  friendly 
race  for  distance  or  endurance,  let  him  do  so  only 
among  his  own  friends  and  very  occasionally.  We 
think  that  it  is  not  the  highest  mission  of  the 
' '  Bike ' '  which  we  witness  when  we  see  a  rider  at 
a  bicycle  meeting  with  an  attendant  who  rubs  his 
legs  as  if  he  were  a  horse,  puts  him  up  and  gives 


no      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

him  his  orders.  Usually  such  a  rider,  though  not 
a  horse,  is  not  far  removed  from  an  animal,  possi- 
bly a  donkey. 

The  daily  ride  for  recreation  is  as  far  as  many 
men  go,  but  beyond  this  is  the  far  more  enjoyable, 
the  crowning  pleasure  of  cycling  as  of  horseback 
riding,  touring.  It  is  not  possible  to  conceive  any- 
thing better  for  the  amount  of  money  expended 
than  for  two  or  three  friends  to  start  off  on  cycles 
on  a  pleasure  excursion  of  some  weeks'  duration. 
That  is  far  preferable  to  the  use  of  railway  trains, 
and  expensive  and  fashionable  hotels.  The  easy 
rider  is  nearly  as  independent  as  the  pedestrian, 
with  the  advantage  of  covering  much  longer  dis- 
tances in  a  day  if  necessary,  and  so  getting  rapidly 
over  any  flat  and  uninteresting  districts,  to  cover 
which  on  foot  becomes  very  irksome.  This  is  a 
peculiar  advantage  in  this  country  where  distances 
are  so  great.  To  reach  many  points  of  interest  we 
have  to  make  much  greater  mileage  than  abroad. 

Having  undertaken  the  free  and  easy  style  of 
riding  for  pleasure,  give  up  every  idea  of  trying  to 
satisfy  your  friends  that  you  can  ride  so  many  miles 
in  so  many  hours.  I^et  competition  rest.  If  a  tour 
is  to  be  undertaken,  get  used  to  the  average  run 
gradually.  On  a  tour,  under  exercise  rather  than 
over.  One  cannot  do  as  much  comparatively,  when 
riding  daily  for  long  hours,  as  he  can  when  out  for 
an  hour  or  two,  two  or  three  times  a  week. 


CYCLING.  Ill 

Much  of  the  enjoyment  of  the  tour  depends,  if 
in  company,  on  what  kind  of  company  it  is.  The 
wrong  choice  of  companions  may  injure  the  best 
of  plans.  Except  in  the  cases  of  some  few  pecu- 
liarly constituted  riders,  a  solitary  trip  is  not  as 
enjoyable,  but  a  rider  had  better  go  alone  than 
with  a  disagreeable  or  unsuitable  companion.  If 
you  can  so  hit  it,  one  near  your  own  social  position 
is  preferable.  A  suitable  person,  though  he  may 
be  a  stranger  at  first,  during  a  cycle  tour  may  ripen 
out  and  afterward  become  a  lifelong  friend.  Two 
fairly  equal  riders  are  preferable.  You  do  not  want 
to  ride  with  some  one  whose  skill  far  exceeds  your 
own,  unless  he  is  especially  agreeable  and  unselfish, 
nor  do  you  want  one  whose  strength  and  endurance 
are  far  greater.  It  will  worry  him  to  be  consider- 
ing you,  and  you  to  try  to  emulate  him .  Two  or 
three  companions  are  better  than  a  club  run.  It  is 
trying  to  always  observe  certain  regulations,  to 
ride  fixed  distances,  or  to  keep  certain  positions  in 
line  if  such  are  required.  In  a  club  you  cannot 
always  do  as  you  please  unless  it  is  the  will  of  the 
majority.  The  speed,  if  the  club  is  kept  together, 
is  necessarily  the  speed  of  the  slowest  rider.  A 
remedy  for  many  such  evils  is  in  a  not  too  strenuous 
observance  of  regulations  by  club  officers.  Excep- 
tionally slow  riders,  those  liking  to  ^ '  poke, ' '  take 
things  easy  and  enjoy  life  as  it  happens,  should  be 
encouraged  to  go  ahead  of  the  main  body  on  an 


112      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

earlier  start,  if  it  is  desirable  for  all  to  meet  at  a 
fixed  time  and  place  ;  or  they  should  be  allowed  to 
lag  if  it  suits  them  and  arrangements  made  to  wait 
for  them  where  convenient,  while  the  others  may 
be  resting. 

Among  the  objections  made  to  cycling,  as  an 
exercise,  is  that  the  position  in  riding  is  often  bent, 
stooping  and  cramped.  To  a  certain  extent  this 
stoop  has  become  the  mark  of  a  cycling  man,  as 
round  shoulders  used  to  be  of  a  rowing  man.  This 
is  a  valid  objection  when  there  are  grounds  for  it. 
The  stooping  position  is  objectionable  for  two  prin- 
cipal reasons.  In  the  first  place  it  prevents  the 
free  circulation  of  blood  in  the  lower  limbs,  which 
are  doing  the  most  of  the  work.  In  the  second 
place  it  prevents  the  full  and  free  respiration,  espe- 
cially needed  while  doing  vigorous  work.  The 
wrong  position  also  tends  to  such  injuries  in  the 
pelvic  region,  as  were  by  many  thought  to  consti- 
tute the  chief  harm  of  cycling,  but  which  it  is  now 
thought  are  not  very  common. 

The  correct  position  is  the  upright  one.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  acquire  any  other.  The  incorrect  one 
is  the  one  in  which  the  rider  leans  forward  until 
his  body  is  nearly  at  right  angles  with  his  legs. 
This  is  copied  blindly  from  racers,  under  the  impres- 
sion that  it  is  ''good  form,"  when  there  is  no  good 
reason  for  it.  In  racing,  riders  usually  sit  in  the 
doubled-up  position  iii  order  to  lessen  the  resistance 


CYCLING,  113 

of  the  air.  It  is  also  adopted  in  hill  climbing  to  a 
less  extent  to  bring  the  rider  ' '  over  his  work. ' '  It 
is  entirely  unnecessary  in  ordinary  riding.  I^adies 
are  not  often  seen  indulging  in  it.  An  eminent 
physician  says :  "I  have  frequently  had  opportuni- 
ties to  notice  the  difference  between  the  riding  of 
men  and  women  bicyclists,  and  I  have  been  much 
surprised  at  the  contrast  between  the  two.  The 
women,  as  a  rule,  are  graceful,  dignified  and  easy; 
the  men  in  the  majority  of  instances  have  looked 
more  like  agitated  grasshoppers  than  anything  else 
that  I  could  imagine.  They  sprawl  over  their 
wheels,  sit  with  their  spinal  column  almost  in  a 
half  circle  and  act  as  though  it  were  necessary  to 
work  for  dear  life  in  order  to  get  ahead.  I  think  it 
safe  to  say  that  not  one  man  in  twenty-five  rides 
really  well ;  the  women  almost,  if  not  altogether, 
reverse  this  rule,  for  a  very  ungraceful  rider  among 
them  I  rarely  see. ' ' 

Those  who  seek  to  get  from  the  wheel  the  best 
physical  advantages  will  take  care  to  acquire  the 
habit  of  sitting  upright  in  the  saddle.  By  upright 
is  not  meant  a  stiff,  bolt  upright  position,  such  as 
would  be  out  of  place  on  horseback.  There  must 
be  an  easy  yielding  and  adaptation  to  the  steed,  be 
he  of  iron  or  flesh  and  blood. 

It  may  be  desirable  to  dwell  a  moment  on  this 
much  discussed,  and  by  professionals  much  sneered 
at,  subject  of  the  racing  position  [Fig.  13].    It  will 


114      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

be  noticed  that  this  rider,  a  professional,  has  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  proper  curve  to  the  back  which 
was  not  there  naturally.  An  amateur  who  blindly 
imitates  [Fig.  14]  tries  to  double  up,  but  his  back 
is  not  yet  professionally  curved.  Should  he  prac- 
tice long  enough  he  may  attain  the  genuine  bend. 
Now  if  we  glance  at  Fig.  15,  and  see  the  position 
of  the  framework  of  the  body  in  such  a  position,  a 
better  idea  is  gained  of  how  the  internal  organs 
must  be  abnormally  compressed.  The  whole  grue- 
some picture  of  pale  death  on  the  steel  horse  may 
be  taken  as  a  warning  of  the  results  of  the  prac- 
tice. 

Sir  Benjamin  Richardson,  an  English  bicycling 
enthusiast,  is  most  outspoken  in  denunciation  of 
the  doubled-up  position,  which  he  thinks  can  do 
much  physical  harm.  In  his  opinion  the  health- 
fulness  of  the  exercise  all  depends  upon  the  way  in 
which  the  body  is  held.     He  says: 

"  I  have  said  so  much  on  this  subject  that  people 
think  I  am  prejudiced  against  cycling,  though  as  a 
matter  of  fact  I  am  very  fond  of  it  as  an  exercise. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  a  great  deal  of  harm  is  at 
present  being  done  by  injudicious  cycling.  The 
attitude  that  nearly  all  cyclists  adopt,  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree — bending  themselves  forward  over 
the  handles  of  their  machines — is  undoubtedly  most 
unhealthy.  And,  though  I  cannot  explain  the 
reason    for  taking   such  an  attitude,  I  know  that 


CYCLING  llo 

I  have  to  keep  a  careful  watch  over   myself  to 
maintain  an  erect  position. 

* '  The  doubled-up  position  does  more  harm  than 
people  imagine.  Of  course,  everybody  knows  that 
it  is  ugly.  The  spinal  curves  are  the  most  perfect 
in  nature,  both  for  strength  and  beauty;  and  these 
are  destroyed.  The  top  of  the  anterior  curve  is 
brought  forward — and  I  am  not  sure  that  the  pos- 
terior curve  as  well  is  not  affected — until  the  spine 
becomes  almost  an  arc.  The  chest  bone  is  then 
affected  by  the  unnatural  pressure  placed  upon  it. 
The  circulation  is  impaired,  and  no  doubt  the  lungs 
are  interfered  with  too.  In  fact  there  is  hardly  any 
possible  evil  effects  which  it  does  not  produce. 

' '  Riders  of  the  old-fashioned  high  machines  were 
better  off  in  this  respect  than  the  riders  of  to-day, 
and  they  generally  sat  much  more  erect.  I  think 
the  'safety'  bicycle,  with  its  longer  reach,  has 
something  to  answer  for. 

"Altering  the  position  of  the  handles — bringing 
them  higher  up  and  further  back — might  help  to 
improve  matters,  but  that  would  be  unpopular. 
Any  change  in  the  construction  of  machines  which 
either  necessitates  an  alteration  in  the  manufactur- 
ers' 'plant,'  or  impairs  the  speed  of  the  machine, 
will  meet  with  a  great  deal  of  opposition.  A  desire 
for  increased  speed  is  mainly  responsible  for  the  in- 
troduction of  this  attitude.  Men  find  that  by  bend- 
ing themselves  down  they  both  offer  less  resistance 


116      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

to  the  wind  and  get  more  power  over  their  work, 
and  they  will  not  bother  about  the  remote  con- 
sequences. Long  distance  riding,  too,  has  done 
a  great  deal  of  harm.  In  fact,  the  cyclists  of  the 
present  generation  are  feeling  the  effects  of  their 
riding  much  more  than  earlier  riders  did,  and  even 
they  suffered  severely  enough.  There  were  Cortis 
and  Keith-Falconer,  two  magnificent  riders,  who 
both  died  of  heart  disease.  I  knew  many  first-class 
speed  cyclists  years  ago  who  told  me  they  felt  no 
ill  effects,  but  they  are  nearly  all  dead  now,  and  not 
at  advanced  ages. 

*' Cycling,  when  indulged  in  moderately,  is  not 
more  unhealthy  than  other  sports.  Of  course,  row- 
ing affects  the  breath,  walking  and  pedestrianism 
affect  the  nerves,  the  use  of  dumb-bells  and  other 
stationary  exercises  affect  the  muscles.  And,  in  the 
same  way,  cycling  affects  the  circulation.  I  have 
known  a  man's  pulse  to  go  up  to  223  during  a  race, 
and  it  can  be  imagined  from  that,  the  work  the 
heart  must  be  called  upon  to  do.  And,  besides, 
there  is  the  sudden  running  down  after  the  system 
has  been  strained  to  this  pitch.  It  might  be 
compared  to  releasing  the  spring  of  a  watch  and 
letting  it  run  down  suddenly  when  it  is  fully  wound. 
The  effect  on  the  system  is  most  injurious.  Hill- 
climbing,  too,  is  a  very  severe  strain.  Several  in- 
ventions have  been  tried  for  storing  up  energy  while 
going  down  hill  which  could  be  used  to  assist  the 


CYCLING.  117 

rider  at  the  next  ascent,  and  I  think  it  would  be  a 
very  great  benefit  if  some  such  idea  could  be 
worked  out  and  made  to  answer." 

On  the  subject  of  the  ' '  Racing  Position ' '  the 
lyondon  Lancet  sounds  the  alarm  as  follows: 

"  One  evil  traceable  to  bicycling  is  the  confirmed 
stoop  which  has  already  declared  itself  in  many 
.wheelmen,  a  result  so  common  in  the  less  strongly 
built  bicyclists  of  the  Continent  as  to  have  found 
its  way  into  classification  as  the  '  kyphosis  bicyclis- 
tarum. ' 

' '  The  dorsal  curvature  posteriorly,  which  used  to 
be  rare  in  boys  under  fourteen  years  of  age,  is,  now 
that  the  bicycle  is  so  largely  used,  very  frequently 
met  with,  particularly  among  those  young  bicyclists 
whose  spinal  column  is  developed  more  rapidly 
than  the  ligaments  and  muscles,  and  in  whose  cases, 
therefore,  the  equilibrium  between  those  parts  is 
more  or  less  disturbed. 

' '  Were  it  merely  an  unsightly  deformity,  the  stoop 
in  question  ought  to  be  combatted  in  every  way; 
but  confirmed  dorsal  curvature  posteriorly  has  con- 
sequences of  its  own  quite  mischievous  enough  to 
call  for  immediate  counteraction.  The  displace- 
ment, embarrassed  functional  activity  and  arrested 
or  diseased  development  of  those  organs  which 
kyphosis  inevitably  induces,  are  all  too  serious  to 
warrant  the  slightest  neglect  in  remedying  them. 
Exercise  of  a  kind  to  accustom  the  spinal  column 


118      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

to  an  action  directly  antagonistic  to  the  inclination 
forward  of  the  bicyclist's  attitude  is  what  is  needed. 
The  use  of  the  Indian  clubs,  or  such  similar  means 
of  incurvatino^  the  spine  anteriorly,  throwing  out 
the  chest  and  maintaining  the  head  erect,  should  be 
practiced  with  that  object.  All  the  undoubted 
advantages  of  bicycling  may  thus  be  retained  with- 
out that  cultivation  of  the  stoop  which  tends  to 
take  a  cubit  from  the  stature  of  its  inveterate  ex- 
ponents and  to  impose  a  hunchbacked  development 
on  what  it  would  then  be  a  figure  of  speech  to  call 
the  rising  generation." 

When  cycling  was  first  introduced,  when  there 
was  great  prejudice  against  the  machine,  physicians 
shared  the  common  prejudice  against  them.  This 
was  in  the  days  when  feeling  ran  so  high  that 
cyclists  were  supposed  to  have  no  rights  upon  the 
road  ;  in  contradistinction  to  to-day,  when  some 
riders  think  they  have  all  the  rights  and  other 
vehicles  and  pedestrians  none,  instead  of  admitting 
that  all  have  equal  rights.  In  those  days  in  Eng- 
land, not  earlier  than  1876,  the  driver  of  a  public 
coach  lashed  with  his  whip  a  cyclist  who  was  pass- 
ing, while  the  guard  threw  an  iron  ball  and  rope, 
prepared  beforehand,  so  as  to  hit  the  spokes  and 
drag  machine  and  rider  to  the  ground,  for  which 
both  driver  and  guard  were  fined. 

Many  physicians  who  then  opposed  cycling  had 
certain  grounds  for  their  opposition,  from  the  fact 


CYCLING.  119 

that  the  jars  and  jolts  of  the  old  machines  indiiced 
headache  and  sometimes  hernia.  Before  long  they 
began  to  change  their  opinion  as  the  more  perfected 
machines  were  put  upon  the  market.  One  English 
medical  man  in  particular,  who  had  been  an  oppo- 
nent of  the  sport,  was  in  ill-health  from  a  carriage 
accident.  He  suffered  from  nervousness  and  head- 
Uche  to  such  an  extent  that  he  could  not  sit  in 
either  a  carriage  or  railway  train  with  any  comfort, 
and  often  walked  long  distances  to  avoid  the  dreaded 
means  of  conveyance.  He  accidently  saw  a  tricycle 
and  was  induced  to  try  it.  The  exercise  pleased 
him  and  one  day  he  accidently  discovered  that  he 
had  ridden  ten  miles  without  suffering,  though  he 
was  aware  that  there  had  been  more  jar  in  the 
riding  than  he  would  have  experienced  in  either  a 
railway  train  or  a  carriage.  This  discovery  gained 
his  confidence  and  he  rode  regularly,  with  the  result 
that  the  nervous  trouble,  which  seriously  threatened 
to  interfere  with  his  comfort  in  life,  was  quite 
overcome.  He  became  interested  to  the  extent 
that,  as  he  himself  expressed  it,  he  was  so  con- 
cerned when  riding  to  know  whether  he  was  go- 
ing to  run  over  a  chance  half-brick  in  the  road 
that  he  quite  forgot  that  his  head  ought  to  be 
aching.  This  is  an  example  which  took  place 
long  ago.  Since  that  time  many  more  similar 
cases  could  be  added  to  the  list  for  like  sufferers 
to  profit  by. 


120      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

As  to  the  question,  what  is  excess  ?  from  want 
of  a  proper  consideration  of  which  most  doctors  of 
to-day  get  their  cycle  patients,  that  depends.  For 
touring,  one  authority  on  the  subject  of  deciding 
what  should  be  the  average  day's  journey,  finds  it 
very  necessary  to  give  a  very  emphatic  warning 
against  the  error  into  which  so  many  tourists  fall, 
of  fixing  a  ridiculously  high  standard  which  they 
find  it  practically  impossible  to  accomplish.  A 
large  number  of  beginners  fancy  that  they  can 
ride  with  ease  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  miles 
daily  for  a  week  at  a  stretch.  On  this  basis  they 
arrange  their  tours,  with  the  result  that  they 
either  break  down  utterly  and  are  compelled  to 
take  the  train  home,  or  else  they  spend  a  miserable 
holiday,  riding  against  time  during  the  whole  of 
the  trip.  They  thus  convert  what  should  have 
been  a  pleasant  outing  into  a  period  of  hard  labor 
and  discomfort.  The  experienced  tourist,  on  the 
other  hand,  does  not  attempt  to  fix  arbitrarily  the 
distance  to  be  covered  each  day  or  the  places  where 
halts  should  be  made.  He  rather  shortens  the 
day's  journey,  being  satisfied  with  forty  or  fifty 
miles  at  the  outside,  and  generally  has  a  spare  day 
in  the  middle  of  the  week  as  well,  thus  letting 
himself  off  as  lightly  as  possible,  with  a  view  to  the 
more  complete  enjoyment  of  the  tour  as  a  whole. 

For  the  beginner,  even  shorter  distances  are 
advisable.     Some  twenty  to  forty  miles,  more  or 


CYCLING.  121 

less,  as  occasion  serves,  will  be  found  quite  enough 
to  count  upon,  at  any  rate  until  the  rider  has 
gauged  his  powers  for  road  work  day  after  day. 
This  is  an  important  point,  for  a  man  who  can 
ride  sixty  or  seventy  miles  a  day  at  certain  inter- 
vals may  find  forty  miles  a  day  for  a  week  a  task, 
until  by  lengthened  experience  he  has  learned  how 
to  economize  his  strength. 

According  to  another  authority  the  question  of 
what  distance  can  be  covered  in  a  touring  day 
should  be  thus  decided:  Let  the  individual  who 
wants  to  know  find  out  how  far  he  can  ride  com- 
fortably in  an  ordinary  day,  and  having  made 
allowances  for  the  time  to  be  spent  in  sight-seeing, 
reducing  the  mileage  a  trifle  in  consideration  of  the 
weight  of  baggage  to  be  carried,  let  him  divide  the 
result  thus  arrived  at  by  three,  when  the  quotient 
may  be  set  down  as  the  average  distance  to  be 
ridden  daily. 

From  this  somewhat  sarcastic  statement  it  is  to 
be  inferred  that  there  is  a  tendency  to  excess.  In 
support  of  the  advice,  the  same  author  further  states 
that  a  noted  rider,  who  has  covered  220  miles  in  a 
day,  makes  his  diurnal  distance  when  on  a  pleas- 
ure tour  vary  from  ten  to  forty  miles.  Unless 
there  is  a  very  unusual  paucity  of  scenery  en  route ^ 
the  tourist  who  wants  to  enjoy  himself  should 
adopt  a  similar  proportion,  with  the  addition  that 
he  should  never  trouble  to  get  to  the  destination 


122      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

fixed  for  any  one  day  if  stress  of  weather  or  otliei 
considerations  make  it  more  desirable  to  stop  at  an 
intermediate  point. 

A  moderate  bicycle  rider  who  is  not  an  athlete 
or  a  flyer  on  the  one  hand,  nor  exceptionally  weak 
on  the  other,  can,  on  ordinary  short  rides,  when  he  is 
in  practice,  get  over  nine  or  ten  miles  an  hour  with- 
out much  exertion,  and  can  keep  it  up  about  as 
long  as  he  could  comfortably  walk  with  the  same 
amount  of  exertion,  say  four  or  five  hours.  The 
extreme  lightness  of  modern  machines  makes  it 
possible  to  use  man  power  to  the  greatest  advan- 
tage. But  there  are  many  who  cannot  do  as  much 
as  even  seven  miles  an  hour,  and  yet  they  man- 
age to  get  a  great  deal  of  amusement  out  of  the 
pursuit. 

In  any  event,  for  touring  there  should  be  some 
preparation  or  training.  The  mere  unaccustomed 
task  of  sitting  in  the  saddle  for  a  certain  number 
of  hours  daily  may  become  painful  if  too  suddenly 
begun.  Suitable  apparatus  and  outfit  for  touring 
are  also,  of  course,  requisites. 

The  cycling  tourist  has  advantages  in  many  coun- 
tries, particularly  in  England  and  America,  which 
can  be  had  in  no  other  form  of  touring,  namely,  an 
opportunity  to  join  cycling  organizations  which 
give  him  great  facilities  on  the  road.  He  can 
always  find  some  official  of  the  organization  within 
reach  in  any  location  to  give  him  needed  advice  or 


CYCLING.  123 

help,  and  by  his  membership  alone  he  can  claim 
many  advantages  and  accommodations,  and  at  a 
saving  of  money.  All  the  information  obtainable, 
as  to  routes,  roads,  etc.,  can  be  had  by  a  member 
for  the  asking,  either  previous  to  starting  or  on  the 
way.  In  the  British  Isles  the  amateur  organiza- 
tion, which  is  virtually  the  same  in  this  country, 
'thus  states  its  case:  "The  cases  are  few  where  a 
member  cannot  get  all  his  wants  supplied  by  mem- 
bers of  his  own  club  within  four  or  five  miles  dis- 
tance from  the  place  where  any  misadventure  may 
occur.  A  member  wishing  to  travel  in  any  direc- 
tion through  the  country  applies  to  the  club's  Chief 
Consul  of  the  district  through  which  his  intended 
journey  lies,  and  obtains  every  information  neces- 
sary respecting  roads,  hotels,  best  route  to  pursue, 
etc. ,  besides  being  speeded  on  his  way  by  the  Con- 
suls of  the  chief  towns  through  which  he  passes; 
for  part  of  a  Consul's  duty  is  to  keep  a  watchful 
eye  to  the  comfort  and  interest  of  any  touring  mem- 
bers who  may  be  temporarily  sojourning  in  the 
hotel  headquarters.  These  last  are  by  no  means 
the  least  important  part  of  the  organization.  The 
club  has  either  headquarters  or  recommended 
houses  in  all  the  chief  towns  and  large  villages  of 
the  kingdom.  Recommended  houses,  as  opposed 
to  hotel  headquarters,  are  houses  which  can  in 
many  cases  hardly  be  designated  hotels.  Some- 
times they  are  snug  roadside  inns  in  remote  country 


124      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

villages.  In  such  places  it  is  often  of  great 
importance  to  the  wet  or  belated  traveler  to  find 
rest,  refreshment  and  recognition,  even  though  a 
sanded  parlor  may  be  the  only  sitting-room  and  a 
smiling  maid  may  represent  boots  and  waiter. 
The  proprietor  of  a  recommended  house  enters 
into  a  contract  with  the  club,  specifying  that  he  will 
at  all  times  "receive  and  entertain  any  members 
of  the  club,  whether  ladies  or  gentlemen,  who  pro- 
duce a  valid  ticket  of  membership  for  the  then 
current  year,  and  he  will  charge  them  a  tariff  of 
prices"  which  the  contract  then  proceeds  to  set 
forth. 

These  agreements  are  mutually  beneficial.  They 
suit  the  inn-keeper,  because  to  him  it  means  prac- 
tically the  monopoly  of  the  trade  to  be  done  with 
cyclists,  the  number  of  whom  would  hardly  be 
believed.  Many  hotels  fell  into  sleepiness  and 
decay  when  railroads  took  the  place  of  coaches, 
and  have  now  through  the  medium  of  c}xling 
tourists  revived,  and  do  a  profitable  business, 
though  teams  of  galloping  posters  have  disappeared 
forever.  But  the  arrangement  is  by  no  means  one- 
sided. The  cyclist  also  profits  by  it.  He  is  a  com- 
paratively new  creation.  His  wants  are  novel  and 
strange.  A  specimen  of  the  class  descending  on 
many  a  hotel  not  specially  prepared  for  his  recep- 
tion would  probably  cause  more  consternation 
than  delight.     The  cyclist's  hours  are  uncertain. 


CYCLING.  125 

He  is  as  likely  as  not  to  arrive  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  or  long  before  breakfast.  Whatever  the 
hour  of  his  arrival,  he  is  quite  certain  to  be  very 
tired,  very  hungry  and  very  hot.  He  will  have 
very  little  baggage,  and  though  he  should  arrive  at 
midday  he  will  certainly  want  to  go  to  bed;  not 
necessarily  to  sleep,  but  for  the  practical  reason 
'that  bed  is  the  best  place  for  him  to  wait  in  while 
his  clothes  are  being  dried.  To  the  good  people  at 
a  cycling  inn,  these  vagaries  are  the  merest  matters 
of  routine.  Equally  a  matter  of  course  is  the  request 
of  the  guest  to  be  called  and  have  breakfast  ready 
at  an  unearthly  hour  of  the  morning,  for  the 
favorite  plan  of  the  younger  spirits,  who  go  career- 
ing over  the  country  at  the  rate  of  eighty  or  one 
hundred  miles  a  day,  is  to  get  over  thirty  or  forty 
of  them  before  breakfast.  Great  is  the  convenience 
to  these  young  athletes  of  finding  houses  all  over 
the  country  at  which  their  requirements  are  studied, 
and  their  arrival  hailed,  not  only  with  cheerful- 
ness, but  with  welcome.  Many  are  the  travelers 
who  have  found  the  little  silver  badge  of  the 
club  a  passport  to  cheery  kindness,  which  no 
agreement  for  special  tariffs  would  alone  suffice  to 
secure. 

Nor  are  the  advantage^  confined  to  the  long-run 
cyclist.  Outside  of  recommended  houses^  cycling 
has  virtually  revived  the  wayside  inn  per  se^  where 
the  rider  may  stop  and  refresh  himself  at  will. 


126      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

Fortunately  cyclists  are  not  under  such  strict 
regulations  everywhere  as  in  Zurich,  Switzerland, 
where  the  rules  have  something  of  the  "keep  off 
the  grass  ' '  flavor.  It  is  a  question  whether  in  more 
modified  form  they  might  not  do  good  service  in 
some  other  localities  where  riders  need  reminding 
that  other  people,  riders  and  pedestrians,  have 
rights.  The  following  translation  from  a  daily 
paper  of  that  city  gives  the  town  laws  governing 
cycling: 

' '  Bicycling  is  only  allowed  upon  written  permis- 
sion issued  to  competent  riders.  This  permission 
must  be  carried  by  the  rider;  it  contains  his  name, 
occupation,  date  of  birth,  place  of  nativity  and 
address,  and  it  costs  two  francs  a  year.  Racing  is 
forbidden,  and  in  narrow  streets  the  rider  must  dis- 
mount. Special  stress  is  laid  upon  the  speed  of  the 
machine.  On  crowded  streets  and  on  turning  cor- 
ners, the  rider  must  go  slow.  He  must  not  ride  with- 
out using  the  handles  of  his  machine  to  steer  by  ;  he 
must  ring  his  bell  in  ample  time,  and  if  that  is  not 
heeded,  he  must  politely  warn  the  pedestrian.  Care 
must  be  taken  not  to  worry  or  frighten  the  foot- 
passenger.  On  a  single-seated  bicycle  not  more 
than  one  person  may  sit.  More  than  two  bicycles 
are  not  permitted  to  run  abreast.  On  holidays, 
when  the  streets  are  crowded,  bicycling  is  not  per- 
mitted at  all.  On  the  other  hand,  the  bicycle  shares 
with  other  vehicles  the  privilege  of  the  road.   Should 


CYCLING.  127 

the  rider  be  the  cause  of  an  accident  to  a  pedes- 
trian he  must  dismount,  render  what  assistance  lies 
in  his  power  and  give  his  name  and  address  to 
an  officer,  together  with  a  written  report  of  the 
matter. ' ' 

There  are  certain  solid  practical  advantages  in 
cycling  which  will  give  it  a  permanent  hold  on  the 
'public,  independent  of  fashion.  It  is  being  intro- 
duced, where  roads  will  permit,  more  and  more  into 
practical  life  and  very  advantageously.  The  letter 
carrier,  the  messenger,  the  porter,  the  newspaper 
distributer  use  it.  Doctors  adopt  it  to  reach  their 
patients,  and  suburban  clergymen  make  use  of  it 
in  the  discharge  of  parish  duties.  We  have  seen 
a  divinity  professor  ride  up  to  his  class-room  to 
deliver  his  theological  lecture. 

For  one  thing  we  are  all  greatly  indebted  to  the 
cycling  community,  and  will  be  more  and  more  as 
its  numbers  and  influence  increase,  and  that  is  a 
tendency  to  improve  country  roads  and  city  paving. 
The  work  already  done  in  that  line  in  many  locali- 
ties here  and  abroad  is  considerable,  though  appar- 
ently little.  Any  improvement  in  this  respect  is  a 
great  boon  to  the  community  at  large,  including  all 
those  who  never  ride  a  cycle.  Every  user  of  horse 
flesh  is  benefited.  His  animal  has  less  wear  and 
tear,  his  carriage  and  himself  likewise.  The  jar  of 
any  moving  thing  is  lessened,  and  even  the  city  stay- 
at-home  is  benefited  by  reason  of   the  abatement 


128      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE: 

of  the  nervously  trying  noise  due  to  the  better 
paving.  For  these  and  all  other  blessings  may  we 
be  truly  thankful  ;  particularly  as  many  nervous 
diseases,  due  primarily  to  noise,  from  such  sources 
as  for  instance  railway  trains  in  country,  or  other 
innumerable  noises  in  cities,  are  largely  on  the 
increase.  Attention  is  called  to  this  later.  The 
abatement  of  such  noises  will  be  the  philanthropic 
and  medical  problem  of  the  twentieth  century. 


Pedestrianism- 


VII. 
Pedestrianism. 

Of  course  any  one  who,  either  from  want  of 
funds  or  from  fear  of  the  ridicule  of  his  non-cycling 
fellows,  should  he  adopt  knee-breeches  and  polo 
cap,  cannot  even  bestride  the  wiry  steed,  will  nat- 
urally fall  back  on  what  may  at  least  be  considered 
next  best,  namely,  his  legs.  As  to  the  grade  of 
"next"  opinions  differ.  Though  " shank's  mare " 
is  handy  to  the  poor  student  for  exercising  pur- 
poses, many  who  could  buy  not  only  cycles  but 
expensive  horses  believe  there  is  nothing  like 
walking. 

It  has  long  been  known  not  only  as  a  healthful 
but  a  pleasurable  exercise,  and  it  comes  the  most 
natural.  It  is  the  best  and  cheapest  dyspepsia 
cure  extant. 

Professional  and  amateur  walking  and  running 
contests  do  not  concern  us  just  here.  Walking  in 
other  forms,  whether  as  a  daily  constitutional, 
long  or  short,  or  as  walking  tours,  is  more  in  the 
line  of  the  needs  of  the  ordinary  individual. 

Charles  Dickens'  regular  preparation  for  his  daily 
literary  work  was  a  brisk  walk  of  ten  miles,  at  four 
miles  an  hour.     After  that  he  felt  ready  to  take  up 

(131) 


132       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

the  brain  work.  When  prevented  from  any  cause 
from  getting  the  constitutional,  he  sorely  felt  the 
need  of  it.  Kant  allowed  nothing  to  interfere  with 
his  daily  afternoon  walk.  George  Sand  used  day- 
time for  walking  and  night  for  work.  Wordsworth 
was  an  indefatigable  pedestrian.  Most  public  and 
literary  men  of  to-day  are  walkers. 

Healthful  walking  must  combine  recreation, 
change  of  scene,  something  to  divert  the  mind,  and 
must  be  in  the  open  air. 

This  simple  form  of  exercise,  which  is  probably 
the  oldest,  and  which  it  is  hoped  will  never  go  out 
of  fashion,  stimulates  every  gland  and  organ  in  the 
body  to  activity.  During  walking  the  heart  beats 
more  strongly  and  quickly.  More  arterial  blood  is 
pumped  to  nourish  every  portion  of  the  frame. 
The  liver  shares  the  general  activity,  and  the  kid- 
neys secrete  more  copiously.  The  skin  becomes 
active  and  perspiration  flows  freely.  Much  used-up 
matter  is  excreted  which  would  have  remained  in 
the  blood.  By  the  air  which  is  breathed  into  the 
lungs  the  blood  itself  is  vitalized.  It  is  a  soothing 
exercise,  by  which  a  calmness  of  mind  is  obtained 
which  we  cannot  get  indoors. 

All  the  exercises  of  walking,  the  motion  of  the 
feet,  legs  and  body,  could  be  had  on  a  treadmill, 
shut  up  in  a  dark,  cheerless  room,  from  which  all 
air  and  sunlight  were  excluded.  The  muscles  would 
be  exercised  by  such  a  performance,  but  the  mind 


r 


134      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

would  not  be  refreshed.  The  mind  would  be  in- 
jured and  the  body  fatigued.  The  tediousness  of 
the  work  would  prevent  it  from  being  invigorating. 
The  exerciser  would  be  worse  off  afterward  than 
before.  A  walk  in  early  morning  in  pure  air  with 
nature  for  scenery  would  be  another  thing  altogether. 

Walking,  also,  to  have  the  best  results  should 
have  a  purpose.  Simply  walking  a  certain  distance 
and  returning  again,  probably  by  the  same  route^ 
as  on  a  track,  is  not  so  beneficial  as  a  stroll  with 
some  definite  object  in  view  at  the  end.  This  object 
may  be  simply  a  visit  to  a  friend,  with  a  few  min- 
utes' conversation,  but  even  this  is  enough  to  make 
the  walk  a  healthful  one.  Walking  in  the  country, 
especially  in  the  summer,  cannot  be  very  tedious  to 
a  person  with  a  mind  that  can  enjoy  nature. 

There  are,  of  course,  cases  when  walking  is  not 
a  healthful  exercise,  that  being  dependent  on  the 
individual.  No  two  persons  require  exactly  the 
same  amount  or  kind  of  exercise.  For  the  majority 
it  is  healthy.  It  at  least  takes  people  into  pure  air 
and  into  sunlight.  In  addition  to  quickening  the 
motion  of  the  blood,  it  uses  many  muscles  not  only 
of  the  legs,  but  of  the  arms,  chest  and  abdomen. 

Even  those  of  lesser  strength  benefit  by  it,  being 
exhilarated  by  the  healthful  glow  which  it  brings 
on  if  properly  enjoyed.  This  proper  method  is  not 
always  adopted.  We  use  walking  usually  only  as 
a  means  to  an  end,  not  as  an  exercise  in  itself. 


FIG.    17. 


136        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

Those  who  walk  simply  to  get  there,  with  perhaps 
a  dragging,  listless  footstep,  and  without  breathing 
properly,  which  is  slowly  through  the  nose,  have 
no  knowledge  of  the  pleasures  of  the  recreation. 
A  brisk,  energetic,  elastic  step  should  be  used.  The 
tread  should  be  well  on  the  toes,  so  as  to  be  springy, 
thus  saving  jar.  Hold  the  body  erect  and  properly 
poised.  If  you  grow  accustomed  to  a  daily  walk, 
observing  these  regulations,  you  will  find  that  you 
can  hardly  exist  without  it. 

The  constitutional,  to  be  truly  healthful,  should 
include  some  running.  A  spurt  or  two  will  be  very 
efficacious  in  increasing  the  lung  power  and  in 
improving  the  breathing.  We  can  see  this  in  the 
physical  development  of  athletes  who  make  a 
specialty  of  each  of  these  two  departments. 

Fig.  1 6  was  a  young  Harvard  athlete  whose 
specialty  was  walking.  His  walking  powers  are  in 
prime  condition,  but  his  lung  capacity  does  not 
compare  with  that  of  the  sprinter,  or  short-distance 
fast  runner  [Fig.  17].  The  walker  [Fig.  16]  is  in 
stronger  contrast  when  compared  with  Fig.  18, 
which  is  a  Yale  athlete  celebrated  for  long-distance 
running,  whose  build  shows  not  so  much  strength 
as  great  endurance  for  long-continued  exertion.  He 
has  great  lung  capacity,  and  undoubtedly  the  strong 
heart  action  which  always  goes  with  such  a  build. 


Figs.  16,  17,  18,  19,  22,  23  and  50  are  from  Scribn$r's   Magazine^  by  per- 
mission. 


FIG.    l8. 


138      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

Of  course  one  cannot  run  during  any  portion  of 
one's  daily  constitutional  in  a  city  street.  Such  a 
runner  is  at  once  suspected  to  be  a  thief,  while  in 
fact  it  is  the  man  who  hinders  the  exercise  by  his 
ridicule  who  steals,  taking  away  the  other's  benefit. 
We  sometimes  adopt  this  gait  to  catch  a  street  car 
or  ferry  boat,  but  then  it  is  under  great  excitement, 
in  heat  and  discomfort,  and  with  perturbed  mind. 
Who  can  say  this  is  profitable? 

With  a  little  forethought  much  good  exercise 
can  be  gotten  out  of  ordinary  walking  anywhere. 
To  climb  a  steep  hill  can  be  made  of  as  much  value 
as  a  run,  if  we  only  know  how  to  do  it.  The  com- 
mon way  is  to  bend  over,  rush  at  the  work  with  a 
vim,  and  only  stop  when  exhausted,  half  way  up. 
Old  residents  of  such  hilly  cities  as  Albany,  N.  Y., 
one  side  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  or  San  Francisco 
know  better.  As  soon  as  they  reach  the  foot  of 
the  hills  they  straighten  up,  breathe  full,  and  start 
up  slowly,  which  gait  they  can  keep  up  without 
stop  until  the  top  is  reached.  Of  course  not  every- 
body in  San  Francisco  does  this,  because  there  most 
people  would  prefer  to  wait  for  the  cable,  though  it 
might  take  all  day. 

An  experienced  cycle  rider,  if  he  rides  up  hill  at 
all,  knows  that  the  way  to  do  it  is  to  adopt  the 
same  tactics  here  laid  down  for  foot  walking.  The 
climbing  of  a  stairway,  usually  so  exhausting,  can 
be  made  a  means  of  exercise  if   climbed  as  the 


PEDESTRIANISM.  139 

hill  should  be  climbed.  New  York,  in  its  elevated 
railway  stations,  which  are  so  trying  to  people  with 
weak  lungs  and  feeble  legs,  has  exceptional  facili- 
ties for  this  exercise.  Those  compelled  to  use  them 
should  remember  that  they  can  be  made  very 
beneficial.  It  would  seem  that  New  York  had 
planned  these  ample  facilities  especially  for  the 
Exercise,  and  therefore  insists  that  they  shall  be 
used.  They  amount  to  compulsory  physical  edu- 
cation. Such  a  stairway,  as  say  the  one  at  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth  street  and  Eighth  avenue, 
where  an  elevator  at  say  one  cent  additional  fare 
would  pay  a  big  interest  on  the  investment,  can  be 
made  a  good  liver  exerciser.  On  account  of  the 
weight  carried,  such  stair  climbing  is  equal  to  a 
great  deal  of  exertion  in  lifting.  If  the  five-cent 
passenger  will  bear  in  mind  that  he  can  make  the 
ascent  the  means  of  building  up  his  strength  with- 
out extra  charge,  if  not  attempted  too  rashly,  he 
will  lighten  his  labor.  A  firm  slow  step,  erect 
carriage,  so  as  to  get  long  full  breathing,  steer- 
ing clear  of  sudden  and  taxing  movements,  will  do 
a  great  deal  to  do  away  with  the  terrors  of  the 
stairs  to  people  of  ordinary  strength  and  health. 
With  ladies  the  benefit  will  largely  depend  upon 
how  much  the  dress  allows  freedom  in  breathing 
and  motion. 

A  good  walker  can  indulge  in  what  is  known  as 
the  "  German  Student's  Way,"  namely,  touring  on 


140        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

foot,  which  if  the  strength  is  equal  to  it,  the  prepa- 
ration just,  and  the  planning  proper,  can  give  as 
much  pleasure  as  touring  on  wheel  or  horseback. 
Nearly  the  same  requirements  are  to  be  considered, 
more  particularly  congenial  and  suitable  company, 
if  company  is  preferred  to  solitude.  For  most  dis- 
positions, company  adds  to  the  recreation.  As  the 
German  Student  sings: 

On  foot  I  ga3'ly  take  my  way, 

O'er  mountains  bare  and  meadows  gay. 

And  he  who  is  not  of  my  mind 

Another  traveling  mate  may  find  ' 

He  cannot  go  with  me. 

We  can  never  forget  how,  as  a  schoolboy,  we  once 
spoiled  a  summer  walking  tour  by  an  improper 
choice  of  traveling  companion,  a  dear  friend,  but 
unsuitable.  To  begin  with,  he  had  long  legs,  while 
we  had  short,  which  not  only  necessitated  different 
speed,  but  made  different  desires.  The  friend's  aim 
and  object  was  to  cover  distance,  to  get  there  and 
to  get  there  first.  He  went  like  a  steam  engine, 
except  when  hampered  by  his  very  slow-going 
tender.  The  tender  did  not  object  to  going  at 
proper  speed  when  going,  but  it  wished  to  stop 
often  to  replenish  supplies,  to  run  off  on  a  siding 
and  wait  for  another  train,  in  fact  to  loiter  and  rest 
as  if  we  were  on  a  holiday  for  enjoyment  and  not 
on  a  cinder  path.  This  unusual  fellowship  lasted 
with    increasing   irksomeness    only  for  about  one 


PEDESTRIANISM.  141 

week.  By  that  time,  after  some  one  hundred  miles 
had  been  run,  the  strain  became  so  great  that  the 
coupling  broke,  and  both  engine  and  tender  had  to 
be  shipped  home  by  another  train. 

In  other  ways  we  had  added  discomfort  and 
insured  failure  from  a  want  of  knowledge  as  to 
preparation.  Our  finances  were  in  a  critical  state, 
a  state  of  unstable  equilibrium.  The  least  extrava- 
gance might  mean  financial  disaster,  and  we  did 
not  want  our  trip  interfered  with  by  any  such  little 
matter  as  that.  We  planned  that  our  daily  expenses 
should  be  only  for  a  moderate-priced  lodging  and 
hot  breakfast.  The  other  meals  we  were  to  take 
out  of  doors  in  picnic  style,  carrying  the  main 
requisites.  We  were  not  posted  in  the  matter  of 
condensed  foods,  but  after  great  consultation  we 
somehow  reached  the  conclusion  that  beef-tongue 
combined  all  the  requisites  of  compactness,  dura- 
bility, strength  and  variety.  Our  kind  mothers 
were  appealed  to,  and,  not  to  disappoint  us,  they 
furnished  the  tongue,  a  fine  large  one,  which  they 
(one  of  them)  boiled  and  gave  us  entire.  We  sliced 
it  up  ready  for  eating  and  packed  it  in  tin  baking- 
powder  boxes,  which  we  carried  in  home-made 
knapsacks.  To  this  we  expected  to  add  a  pound 
of  crackers  or  a  loaf  of  bread  daily,  whichever 
was  handy  to  buy  at  the  time.  We  supposed 
that  we  could  obtain  water  as  a  beverage  whenever 
needed. 


142      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

This  diet  of  tongue  and  crackers  did  not  turn 
out  as  expected.  For  one  thing  the  kind  of  crack- 
ers we  had  in  mind,  of  a  certain  brand,  fresh  and 
crisp  from  a  hot  barrel,  were  not  to  be  found. 
Again,  we  appeared  to  have  selected  a  region 
where  the  inhabitants  did  not  eat  bread,  or  at  least 
sell  it  in  the  shops.  In  the  absence  of  both  bread 
and  crackers  we  took  to  ginger  snaps  and  tongue 
which  somehow  disagreed  with  us.  The  last  thing 
in  the  cracker  line  which  we  struck  was  a  square 
hard  biscuit  about  one-half  inch  in  thickness, 
which  on  account  of  dryness  and  for  want  of  a  bet- 
ter name  we  called  saw-dust  cakes.  They  re- 
quired unlimited  amounts  of  water  to  assist  the 
mastication. 

What  probably  knocked  the  bottom  out  of  our 
plans  more  than  anything  else  was  an  occurrence 
in  relation  to  our  water  supply.  We  were  travers- 
ing a  fertile  farm  region,  one  noticeable  feature  of 
which  was  that  the  barns  were  very  much  larger 
in  proportion  and  better  appointed  in  every  way 
than  the  farmer's  dwellings.  It  was  a  hot,  dusty  day, 
and  we  were  very  thirsty  after  our  diet  of  tongue 
and  crackers  just  as  a  shady  farmhouse  came  in 
sight  with  a  well  in  front,  giving  promise  of 
plenty  of  very  cool  water.  We  lost  no  time  in 
reaching  it,  but  as  a  matter  of  courtesy  spoke 
pleasantly  to  the  farmer's  wife  on  the  back  porch, 
and  stated  our  intention  of  drinking,  which  was  in 


PEDESTRIANISM.  143 

our  eyes  a  polite  request.  Our  astonishment  was 
great  when  we  met  with  a  firm  refusal  and  an 
order  to  "be  off  boys  !  "  We  have  since  been  told, 
whether  truthfully  or  not  we  cannot  say,  that  the 
region  is  noted  for  the  meanness  of  its  inhabitants. 
Bishop  lycighton  Coleman,  of  Delaware,  is  in 
the  habit  of  keeping  himself  active  by  a  yearly 
solitary  walking  trip  of  at  least  a  month's  dura- 
tion, usually  in  the  wilds  of  Virginia.  He  tells 
many  amusing  incidents  of  his  tours.  He  travels 
incognito,  in  very  unclerical  dress,  with  knapsack 
on  back  and  unbishop-like  crozier  in  hand,  so  that 
the  bishop  portion  of  his  stature  is  not  recogniza- 
ble. When  no  other  accommodation  offers  he 
bivouacs  for  the  night,  though  he  prefers  a  roof 
over  his  head.  On  one  occasion,  wishing  to  rest 
over  night,  and  if  possible  over  a  day  also,  he  came 
late  to  a  lonely  house,  after  everything  had  been 
made  tight  for  the  night.  After  a  prolonged  knock- 
ing at  the  door,  a  man  put  his  head  out  of  a  win- 
dow and  in  answer  to  a  request  for  shelter  said  that 
his  wife  could  not  sleep  a  wink  if  he  were  to  admit 
a  tramp  into  the  house.  Under  the  circumstances 
it  would  have  been  useless  and  inexpedient  to 
claim  that  the  supposed  tramp  was  the  Bishop  of 
Delaware  and  an  S.  T.  D. ,  so  the  case  was  argued 
on  its  own  merits.  After  long  argument  a  conces- 
sion was  made  that  the  tramp  should  be  allowed 
to  lie  on  the  "settle''  in  the  kitchen  over  night, 


144      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

if  he  would  promise  that  he  would  depart  at  once 
in  the  morning  after  he  had  been  furnished  with 
breakfast.  It  was  taken  for  granted  that  the  hospi- 
tality of  the  night's  lodging  included  a  breakfast, 
even  in  the  mind  of  the  tramp-fearing  housewife. 

This  arrangement  saved  the  Bishop.  Here  was 
his  opportunity,  and  he  made  good  use  of  it.  At 
breakfast-time  he  exerted  his  well-known  powers 
of  pleasing  to  such  effect  that  the  host  and  the  wife, 
who  had  been  called  down  in  wonder  to  hear  the 
tramp  talk,  became  interested,  and  suspicion  was 
disarmed.  Before  breakfast  was  over  the  Bishop, 
on  his  own  merits  as  a  man  only,  had  an  invitation 
to  spend  the  day,  and  at  the  close  of  the  day  a 
pressing  invitation  to  stop  again  on  his  return, 
*'and  be  sure  to  spend  a  week." 

Walking  on  foot  gives  a  freedom  of  action,  an 
ease  of  approach  to  anything  of  interest,  and  an  ab- 
sence of  care  about  everything  under  creation  which 
are  not  obtainable  in  other  forms  of  touring.  A  man 
may  ride  over  a  country,  and  afterward  when  he 
explores  it  on  foot  he  may  find  it  virtually  an  un- 
explored land.  To  thoroughly  enjoy  such  touring 
you  should,  as  far  as  possible,  retain  what  comforts 
you  are  used  to  at  home:  a  good  bed,  regular  meals, 
a  morning  bath;  or  for  what  is  missing  do  some 
training  so  that  you  can  do  without  it  without  dis- 
comfort. Eat  good  food  and  slowly,  and  digest  it. 
Fast  eating  is  usually  overeating,  to  say  nothing 


PEDESTRIANISM.  145 

of  the  food  being  indigestible  from  want  of  masti- 
cation. On  the  road  allow  plenty  of  time  for 
meals,  and  rest  after  them.  Whether  yon  are 
camping  or  in  an  inn,  you  cannot  get  along  with- 
out good  sleep.  This  can  be  more  easily  gained 
by  young  people,  if  camping  or  bivouacking,  or  by 
a  person  who  has  been  used  to  it  all  his  life,  than 
by  an  older  person  who  tries  it  for  the  first  time. 
He  cannot  so  easily  adjust  himself  to  the  new  con- 
ditions with  comfort.  Do  not  neglect  your  toilet 
under  any  consideration.  That  means  so  many 
miles  off  the  record  and  so  much  more  discomfort, 
with  possible  ill-temper  and  consequent  loss  of 
healthful  exercise  in  walking.  What  to  take  and 
what  to  leave  at  home  can  be  learned  from  the 
manuals  which  experienced  hands  have  compiled 
for  that  purpose. 

Above  all,  for  an  exercise  which  involves  so  much 
use  of  the  feet,  attention  to  the  matter  of  shoes  is 
important.  They  should  be  made  with  broad  soles, 
the  soles  only  of  moderate  thickness,  of  pliable 
leather,  and  for  comfort  with  not  too  high  heels. 
The  toes  should  be  broad.  It  is  impossible  to  tour 
comfortably  in  pointed  shoes,  in  which  the  toes 
must  necessarily  be  piled  one  on  top  of  the  other. 
The  length  in  particular  and  the  width  across  the 
ball  should  be  more  than  is  needed,  but  the  shoe 
should  not  be  too  large.  It  should  fit  neatly  across 
the  instep  and  at  the  ankle,  so  as  to  hold  the  foot 
xo 


146       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

comfortably  in  place.  If  not  a  fit  at  those  points, 
the  foot  simply  slips  down  to  the  toe  of  a  too-big 
shoe  and  the  shoe  then  becomes  too  short.  The 
toes  jam  up  and  hurt,  while  the  extra  room  is  at 
the  heel,  which  slips  up  and  down  until  a  blister 
there  is  the  consequence. 

There  can  be  nothing  done  without  some  trouble, 
and  attention  to  these  requisites  is  the  trouble 
necessary  to  attain  a  pleasant  walking  tour. 


Base  Ball. 


VIII. 

Base-ball. 

We  come  now  to  a  department  of  a  great  division 
in  athletics,  which  includes  games  or  contests,  in 
which  recreation  and  usually  outdoor  exercise  is 
gained  by  efforts  to  get  possession  of,  or  do  some- 
thing with,  a  spherical  object  of  varying  size  called 
a  ball.  The  size  varies  from  that  of  a  thimble  to 
the  dimensions  of  a  foot-ball.  The  field  covered 
by  this  little  device  as  a  means  of  diversion  is  an 
immense  one,  including  the  boys'  game  of  marbles, 
billiards,  bowling,  base-ball,  cricket,  lacrosse,  tennis, 
croquet,  foot-ball  of  all  kinds,  and  many  other 
games  which  are  less  known. 

How  the  importance  of  the  spherical-shaped  object 
was  attained  can  hardly  be  told.  Possibly  the  shape, 
fitting  the  natural  curve  of  the  hand,  was  one  con- 
sideration. It  could  be  thrown  or  caught  with  cer- 
tainty, and  without  injury  to  the  anatomy,  from 

(149) 


150      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

absence  of  sharp  corners.  Again  it  might  have 
been  the  ease  of  motion  when  rolling  or  in  the  air, 
when  it  always  presented  a  front  evenly  void  of 
friction,  or  its  delicacy  of  motion  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances. It  responded  to  every  little  influence 
of  skill  or  surroundings,  and  this  gave  variety  of 
result  and  a  certain  uncertainty.  When  rolling 
free  it  became  an  exponent  of  chance  as  in  rou- 
lette. It  is  not  only  man  that  loves  to  play  with  a 
ball.  A  dog,  a  kitten,  a  young  lion,  a  monkey, 
are  alike  devoted  to  it. 

Or,  as  Mr.  Simpson  says,  in  speaking  of  golf, 
^^  There  is  a  large  class  of  games  in  which  a  ball 
plays  an  important  part.  Balls  of  all  sorts  and 
sizes  amuse  men — hard  ones,  soft  ones,  large  ones, 
small  ones.  They  are  treated  in  a  variety  of  ways. 
They  are  struck,  used  to  strike  with,  pushed  against 
each  other,  knocked  into  holes,  rolled  as  close  as 
possible  to  various  things,  battered  against  walls, 
knocked  over  nets,  cuffed  with  the  hand,  jerked 
with  the  finger  and  thumb,  struck  with  an  instru- 
ment, kicked  with  the  feet,  etc."  In  some  games 
the  ball  is  buffeted  whilst  in  motion,  and  in  others 
while  at  rest.  In  some,  one  player's  aim  is  to  make 
it  go,  whilst  others  try  to  stop  it;  or  both  may  want 
to  keep  it  moving,  each  hoping  that  the  other  will 
fail  to  do  so.  In  some  games  there  is  but  one  ball, 
about  which  there  is  a  continual  struggle;  in  others 
there  may  be  many  belonging  to  different  players 


BASE-BALL.  151 

or  theirs  in  turn.  There  is  a  common  element  in 
them  all — rivalry. 

The  game  of  base-ball  in  this  country,  as 
cricket  is  in  England,  is,  of  course,  the  leading 
game  of  the  class.  In  both  cases  this  is  due  to 
national  characteristics  of  the  people  who  take 
part  in  it.  One  game  better  suits  one,  another  the 
other. 

The  game  of  base-ball  appeals  more  strongly  to 
the  younger  element.  The  older  man  looks  to 
something  different  in  the  way  of  personal  exer- 
cise, unless  he  recalls  old  triumphs  by  becoming  a 
spectator,  which  physically  will  do  him  no  good 
whatever.  To  the  great  popularity  of  the  game, 
even  though  it  has  run  to  the  extreme  of  all  possi- 
ble professional  evils  in  its  day,  we  may  attribute 
the  greater  part  of  all  the  athletic  training  which 
the  men  now  in  adult  life  have  received,  to  the  last- 
ing benefit  of  the  nation. 

As  a  professional  business,  base-ball  has  been  in 
its  zenith,  has  declined  from  abuses  which  nearly 
wrecked  it,  which  in  turn  have  been  its  salvation 
because  they  called  so  emphatically  for  a  cure. 
The  cure  for  the  evil  was  not  long  in  forthcoming. 
The  game  will  never  again  reach  the  great  height 
of  popularity  as  a  spectacular  game  it  once  did, 
but  it  can  hardly  ever  lose  its  general  popularity. 
It  has,  time  and  again,  been  said  that  base-ball  was 
dead,  meaning  that  it  was  failing  to  draw  as  many 


152      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

thousands  of  dollars  at  the  gate,  or  as  many  bets 
from  the  gambler,  but  in  other  ways  it  is  still  a 
very  lively  corpse. 

A  recent  railway  journey  on  the  afternoon  of  a 
holiday,  Decoration  Day,  of  about  one  hundred 
miles  length,  between  two  Eastern  cities,  was  the 
means  of  verifying  this  statement.  In  every  town 
or  village  passed  through,  the  young  people  were 
given  up  to  recreation.  Every  regular  ball  ground, 
track,  or  vacant  lot  was  occupied.  The  professional 
player  and  the  street  urchin  were  alike  busy.  By 
actual  count  the  train  passed  one  hundred  and 
seven  games  of  greater  or  less  importance.  Of 
these,  one  was  a  track  contest  in  general  athletic 
sports,  one  was  cricket,  three  were  lawn  tennis,  and 
one  hundred  and  two  were  base-ball  or  an  attempt 
at  it. 

This  might  also  go  to  prove  another  statement 
which  has  been  made,  that  of  all  the  field  sports 
and  games  that  have  been  introduced  into  civilized 
countries  from  time  immemorial,  not  one  so  far  as 
history  has  kept  any  record,  has  ever  awakened 
the  same  interest  or  enjoyed  such  steady  progress 
along  the  highway  of  public  favor  as  base-ball. 

When  its  professional  phase  was  at  its  greatest 
(it  is  not  so  very  far  behind  now)  the  game  in- 
volved the  exchange  and  investment  of  over  ten 
millions  of  dollars  annually.  It  was  of  such  pub- 
lic   importance    that    the    great    newspapers    and 


BASE-BALL.  153 

magazines  granted  it  thousands  of  columns  of  space. 
Its  votaries  were  not  only  clerks,  mechanics  and 
business  men,  but  great  capitalists  as  well.  Noth- 
ing else  can  at  all  compare  with  the  game  in 
attendance  or  money  invested  except  the  turf. 
Even  England,  with  all  her  love  of  her  own  dis- 
tinctively national  game,  wonders  at  our  astonishing 
li"berality  in  the  support  of  ours.  England  has 
never  reached  anything  like  the  same  figures,  not- 
withstanding the  prominence  she  gives  to  her 
similar  institution,  cricket. 

In  the  United  States,  after  it  had  started  in  the 
East,  the  South  was  the  last  section  to  adopt  the 
sport  generally,  but  its  realm  is  not  now  confined 
to  this  country.  It  has  spread  to  Canada,  to  Eng- 
land itself,  and  it  is  now  played  in  the  antipodes 
of  New  Zealand  and  Australia.  It  has  reached 
Japan,  the  Sandwich  Islands,  Cuba  and  Mexico, 
and  we  now  hear  of  it  in  Italy  and  Austria. 

It  is  said  that  in  answer  to  an  English  inquiry,  a 
leading  American  once  gave  the  following  reasons 
for  its  popularity  :  ''It  is  because  base-ball,  like 
the  average  American,  has  more  dash,  more  enter- 
prise, more  vim,  and  more  git-up-and-git  to  it  in  a 
minute  than  anything  else  of  its  kind  that  any 
other  nation  on  earth  ever  attained  to  in  a  lifetime." 

Its  popularity  was  undoubtedly  due  to  inherent 
elements  which  are  identical  with  many  American 
characteristics.      It  is,   besides,  clean,  honest,  very 


154      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

vigorous,  and  has  enough  of  the  spice  of  possible 
risk  and  danger  to  make  it  very  interesting.  Both 
cricket  and  base-ball  are,  however,  free  from  many 
of  the  dangerous  features  of  other  sports,  particu- 
larly the  roughness  of  foot-ball.  lyike  foot-ball  it 
trains  a  person  to  quick  and  ready  co-operation  with 
others. 

There  is  always  an  uncertainty  in  possible 
results  which  adds  to  the  zest.  While  like 
cricket  in  certain  good  features,  it  has  none  of  the 
tiresome  features  of  the  latter.  As  now  played, 
even  professionally,  it  is  largely  free  from  the  dis- 
advantages of  the  bookmaker  or  the  pool  board, 
such  as  surround  the  race  track.  It  does  not  lend 
itself  readily  without  risk  of  suspicion,  to  juggling, 
sell-outs  and  crooked  work.  All  these  are  import- 
ant points  even  from  a  professional  point  of  view, 
and  particularly  if  the  game  is  to  be  kept  popular 
for  private  exercise.  Its  professionals  are  probably 
of  a  higher  class  than  in  any  other  sport.  Its  pro- 
fessional ranks  have  at  times  been  filled  with  edu- 
cated men  fit  to  hold  the  highest  stations  in  the 
land. 

As  to  physical  results,  all  positions  in  the  game 
offer  healthful  exercise,  including  the  batting,  run- 
ning and  fielding.  Of  course  the  pitcher  has  the 
maximum  of  exertion  and  should  be  in  condition 
to  stand  it.  The  pitcher  offers  the  batters  from 
two  to  three  hundred  balls  during  the  course  of  a 


Fig.  19. 


156       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

game,  which  exercise  naturally  produces  in  a  pro- 
fessional pitcher  a  greater  development  of  one 
arm  and  shoulder,  if  the  pitcher  is  one-handed 
only.  This  abnormal  development  a  college  ath- 
lete usually  counteracts  by  gymnasium  work.  Those 
who  play  for  recreation  only  do  not  get  enough  of 
it  to  produce  such  an  effect.  As  the  game  is  now 
played  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  mere  pitching 
does  not  include  all  of  the  exercise  developed  in 
that  station.  If  we  take  into  consideration  the 
number  of  times  a  pitcher  turns  around  to  perplex 
the  batter  or  to  watch  the  bases,  we  may  fairly 
claim  that  the  neck  and  waist  have  a  large  addi- 
tional share  of  work  and  must  be  developed  accord- 
ingly. In  the  pitching  itself  the  muscles  of  the 
waist  and  body  are  more  used  by  a  person  with 
short  arms  than  by  one  with  long.  It  is  claimed 
that  the  short-armed  pitcher  uses  more  favorable 
leverage,  and  hence  has  more  endurance  than  a 
long-armed  pitcher. 

The  muscles  of  the  arms,  chest,  back  and  abdo- 
men are  used  more  or  less  strongly  in  striking. 
In  running,  the  arms  and  legs  are  used  as  in  other 
running,  with  the  exception  that  the  distances  are 
short  and  the  lungs  do  not  get  as  fully  developed 
as  in  long-distance  running. 

Fig.  19  represents  a  Yale  player  who  has  the 
typical  development  of  a  base-ball  pitcher.  He 
had  a  ball  record  before  he  entered  college. 


FIG.    20.      SOME  POSITIONS   OF  THE  PITCHER   IN  THE  BOX. 
FROM   INSTANTANEOUS  I^IFE   PHOTOGRAPHS. 

Reduced  from"  Harper's  Weekly"  by  permission.    Copyright,  1893, 
by  Harper  Brothers. 


BASE-BALL,  157 

As  an  illustration  of  the  great  variety  of  positions 
which  it  is  possible  for  a  pitcher  to  assume,  thus 
indicating  the  amount  of  the  consequent  exercise. 
Fig.  20  shows  a  great  number  of  positions  which 
have  actually  been  used  by  such  players  during 
the  course  of  actual  games.  The  figures  are  repro- 
duced from  instantaneous  life  photographs  taken 
during  the  games.  This  great  number,  which  is 
by  no  means  all  that  are  possible,  shows  how  many 
muscles  of  the  body  must  be  used.  Such  variety 
is  equivalent  to  a  large  amount  of  gymnasium 
work  on  many  diverse  machines. 

If  business  men  would  do  more  of  the  playing  of 
base-ball  rather  than  being  content  to  watch  it,  it 
would  be  to  their  greater  advantage.  The  sport 
offers  many  inducements  for  an  informal  game. 
The  game  can  be  played  to  a  finish  in  a  very  short 
time,  which  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  it  is  popular 
even  as  a  spectacle.  One  cannot  blame  a  man  for 
being  interested  in  it  as  he  would  in  a  theatrical  per- 
formance, though  that  is  not  of  value  for  physical 
education.  It  is  attractive  as  a  spectacle,  because 
in  a  professional,  or  at  least  a  skillful  game,  the 
spectator  sees  a  quick  sharp  contest  in  which  the 
points  of  play  are  numerous  and  diverting.  The 
changes  are  constant  and  if  the  strength  of  the 
opposing  forces  is  fairly  well  matched,  it  is  excit- 
ing from  start  to  finish.  There  is  never  a  dull 
moment.     The  players  are  directly  under  the  eye 


158      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

of  the  looker-on,  who  from  the  seats  can  see  every 
movement  that  is  made.  The  match  rarely  lasts 
more  than  an  hour  and  a  half.  It  is  like  a  modern 
drama  for  speed  of  action.  There  is  hardly  a 
moment  when  the  ball  is  not  in  play.  There  is  no 
tedious  wait  after  a  batsman  has  been  caught.  By 
the  same  play  that  dispatched  him  one  or  even 
two  more  players  may  be  put  out.  The  players 
are  obliged  to  be  always  alert,  and  thus  the  inter- 
est of  the  on-looker  never  flags. 

In  a  professional  game,  the  spectators  regard 
the  whole  performance  as  an  exhibition,  and  they 
demand  that  the  performers  shall  be  the  very  best 
that  can  be  procured.  The  American  base-ball 
audience  would  as  quickly  resent  the  introduction 
of  an  amateur  or  poor  player  into  a  game  which 
they  had  paid  to  see  as  an  habitual  playgoer  in  lyon- 
don  or  Paris  would  resent  the  putting  of  an  amateur 
actor  into  the  cast  at  a  first-class  theatre. 

It  is  this  very  excitement  of  the  game,  these 
points  which  make  the  spectacle  so  interesting 
which  tend  to  prevent  the  amateur  player  from 
indulging  in  the  exercise  personally.  He  finds  it 
vastly  more  interesting  to  see  a  prime  game  than  to 
take  part  in  a  poor  one  himself.  The  good  points 
of  the  game  are  thus  its  drawback.  In  this  respect 
the  slower  cricket  has  the  advantage.  No  one 
but  an  old  cricket  player,  or  one  well  posted  in 
the   game,   can  get  up  much  enthusiasm  over  an 


BASE-BALL.  159 

exhibition  game  of  cricket,  and  even  then  the  enthu- 
siasm is  not  so  intense  as  over  base-ball,  at  least  that 
enthusiasm  which  is  due  to  the  playing  of  the  game. 
But  as  an  amateur  game  it  can  be  made  to  afford 
much  recreation  and  diversion  on  a  holiday  after- 
noon or  at  evening,  to  young  men  engaged  in  work 
or  business.  It  is  a  hardy,  vigorous  game,  calling 
into  play  the  wits  as  well  as  the  muscles.  It 
requires  nerve,  pluck,  daring,  control  of  temper, 
ready  wit,  supple  muscles,  team  work,  subordina- 
tion to  authority,  ability  not  only  to  bat  well  but 
to  field  expertly,  and  to  run  the  bases  fleetly  and 
with  judgment.  Base- ball  combines  all  the  merits 
of  an  exact  science,  with  all  the  glorious  uncertain- 
ties of  good  and  bad  luck.  The  interest  while  the 
game  lasts  is  intense.  There  are  more  supreme 
moments  in  a  short  time  in  a  well-played  game  of 
base-ball  than  in  any  other  contest  of  equal  dura- 
tion, whether  the  contestants  in  the  game  are  skill- 
ful or  otherwise. 


IX. 

Cricket. 

We  are  told  that  disease  germs  are  floating  around 
us  continually.  They  fall  upon  good  and  bad 
ground  alike.  When  they  fall  on  unsuitable  ground 
they  wither  away  and  nothing  results.  If  they 
happen  to  light  on  congenial  soil  they  spring  up, 
and  a  crop  of  disease  of  that  particular  form  re- 
sults. 

It  is  certain  that  the  germs  of  both  base-ball  and 
cricket  were  floating  around  in  England  for  years. 


THE  DISEASE  GERMS  OF  BASE-BAI,I,  AND  CRICKET,  MAGNIFIED. 

Cricket  was  the  congenial  sport,  suited  to  English- 
men and  their  habits,  therefore  it  took  root.  It 
better  suited  the  easy-going,  slower  but  more  solid 
nation.  It  was  just  the  thing  for  people  who  liked 
to  take  their  fun  or  recreation  soberly.     As  for 

(163) 


164      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

base-ball,  our  nation  and  surroundings  have  cer- 
tainly been  more  congenial.  When  the  microbes, 
first  found  in  England  in  rounders,  perhaps,  or 
in  Germany  or  ancient  Rome  in  hand-ball,  reached 
this  country,  they  made  an  epidemic  of  town-ball, 
and  later  of  base-ball.  One  fact  is  certain,  we  have 
had  the  disease  badly. 

Cricket  and  the  old  stool-ball,  played  by  men, 
women  and  children,  with  a  stool  or  a  cricket  for  a 
wicket,  are  probably  synonymous. 

A  Spaniard  has  thus  described  a  game  of  cricket. 
It  is  well  to  see  it  as  others  do  :  ' 

' '  Two  posts  are  placed  in  the  ground  at  a  great 
distance  from  one  another.  The  player  close  to 
one  of  these  posts  throws  a  large  ball  to  another 
party,  who  awaits  the  ball  to  send  it  far  with  a 
small  stick  with  which  he  is  armed.  The  other 
players  then  run  to  look  for  the  ball,  and  while 
the  search  is  going  on  the  party  who  struck  it  runs 
incessantly  from  post  to  post." 

The  average  American  spectator  at  modern 
cricket,  who,  of  course,  understands  little  of  the 
game,  would  say  that  the  Spaniard  had  hit  it  ex- 
actly. The  Prince  of  Wales,  when  he  first  saw  the 
professional  American  base-ball  team  play  in  Eng- 
land, probably  claimed  that  the  description  applied 
nearly  as  well  to  the  game  of  base-ball. 

A  Frenchman,  however,  who  coiild  see  in  the 
modern  game  of  cricket  no  resemblance  to  a  fete, 


CRICKET.  165 

his  preference,  called  it  bloodthirsty  and  ridiculous. 
To  him  it  appeared  spiritless;  there  was  no  prome- 
nade, no  band,  no  ' '  nossing. ' '  He  said  there 
were  a  number  of  men  standing  about  in  white. 
"Suddenly  one  of  them  takes  a  run,  and  hurls  a 
ball  of  terrific  weight  (that  is  M.  Taine's  expres- 
sion) apparently  at  the  head  of  another  player,  who 
hits  it  furiously  with  a  club  and  runs  away,  where- 
upon all  the  other  men  in  white  run  after  him  and 
the  spectators  applaud."  He  ends  his  description, 
evidently  bewildered  and  tired,  by  wanting  to  know 
"  Where  is  the  cricket?  " 

Cricket,  as  an  English  game,  gives  that  nation 
much  exercise  and  recreation.  It  is  there  played 
by  prince,  shoemaker  or  pauper.  An  Englishman 
carries  his  cricket  bat  with  him  like  he  does  his 
gun-case  or  India  rubber  bath.  It  forms  part  of 
his  bundle  of  canes  and  umbrellas,  which,  with 
his  hat-box,  go  to  make  up  his  heavy  marching 
order. 

As  an  American  game  it  is,  of  course,  an  exotic, 
but  it  has  taken  quite  a  firm  hold.  Philadelphia 
for  years  has  been  its  stronghold  owing  to  two  facts: 
First,  because  its  clubs  were  the  wealthiest,  their 
houses  and  grounds  the  best,  and  thus  it  was  possi- 
ble to  make  the  matches  more  interesting.  Sec- 
ondly, because  its  talent  was  native  and  developed. 
Other  locations  had  to  depend  on  imported  players, 
or  at  least  those  who  had  learned  their  play  out  of  the 


166      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

country.  The  game  now  flourishes  in  New  York, 
Boston,  Pittsburgh,  Baltimore,  Chicago,  Detroit, 
Pulhnan,  111.,  and  elsewhere. 

A  reason  which  has  been  given  for  the  lesser 
popularity  of  the  game  in  America  is  that  good 
turf,  thick  green  grass,  is  a  prime  requisite  of  the 
game.  Compared  with  damp  England,  with  its 
rich  sod,  our  season  is  short  when  it  can  be  played. 
In  cricket  bowling  the  ball  must  hit  the  ground 
before  being  hit  by  the  bat.  Base-ball,  on  the 
contrary,  can  be  played  for  nine  out  of  twelve 
months,  because  it  does  not  matter  to  the  ball  what 
kind  of  ground  the  game  is  played  on,  as  the  ball 
does  not  touch  the  ground  between  the  pitcher  and 
the  bat. 

The  "  overs  "  or  changes  of  side  every  four  balls, 
causing  much  loss  of  time  and  strength  to  the 
players,  make  cricket  a  slower  game.  In  cricket 
all  the  players  of  a  side  go  to  the  bat  before  the  other 
side  has  any  chance.  Base-ball,  on  account  of  the 
rule,  "three  men  out,  side  out,"  can  play  nine  or  ten 
innings  to  a  side  in  one  afternoon.  In  cricket  some- 
times three  days  will  not  suffice  to  give  the  two 
innings  a  side,  to  which,  for  purely  artificial  reasons, 
the  game  is  usually  limited.  It  is  thus  three 
days'  against  three  hours.  Again,  if  three  days  are 
allowed  to  a  match  and  it  is  hinted  that  three  days' 
gate  money  is  necessary  to  pay  such  of  the  players  as 
may  be  professional,  it  often  happens  that  without 


BOWI^ING  POSITION,    SHOWING  PHYSICAI,  DE;V^I,0PME;NT  GAIN]5D 
BY  cricke;t  PI^AYING. 


CRICKET.  let 

purposely  slow  play  the  game  cannot  be  spread 
over  three  days.  This  affects  the  interest  of  the 
game  to  both  spectator  and  player.  Without  some 
professionals  the  game  cannot  usually  get  along  in 
England,  on  account  of  the  length  of  time  required 
to  learn  to  play  it  expertly.  Only  a  man  who  has 
made  more  or  less  of  a  business  of  it  all  his  life  can 
be  expert  enough  to  keep  the  game  moving — par- 
ticularly to  furnish  the  bowling. 

Efforts  have  been  made  to  Americanize  the  game 
(of  course  changes  would  not  be  thought  of  in  con- 
servative England)  by  introducing  modifications,  a 
larger  number  of  balls  to  an  "  over,"  or  by  the  adop- 
tion of  a  rule  a  certain  number  of  ' '  men  out,  side 
out, ' '  based  on  rules  of  base-ball,  but  to  these  changes 
objection  has  been  made  by  all  hands,  even  here. 
Many  of  those  who  play  the  game  in  America  are 
imbued  with  British  notions,  which  is  one  reason 
why  they  adopt  it,  and  they  reason  as  the  Britisher. 
Objection  is  made  that  by  sending  the  side  out 
oftener,  on  the  plan  of  base-ball,  the  batsman,  after 
he  had  got  his  hand  in  and  was  prepared  to  run  up  a 
large  score,  would  have  to  begin  afresh  when  he 
again  took  the  bat.  Yet  it  is  this  very  thing  which 
makes  the  long  scores,  so  many  drawn  games,  and 
the  tired  fielder,  one  of  which  Mr.  Gale  describes  as 
saying  "  F  m  tired  and '  ungry  and  I  want  to  go '  ome. ' ' 

It  is  certain  that  if  any  such  changes  were  ever 
to  become  adopted,  such  result,  if  they  did  so  result, 


168      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

would  affect  all  alike.  The  best  players,  who  now 
object  the  most,  would  have  the  advantage  if  there 
were  advantage,  for  they  could  more  easily  get  their 
hands  in  again.  It  is  certain  that  base-ball  does 
not  present  the  number  of  drawn  games  credited 
to  cricket.  When  the  Australians  visited  England 
m  1886,  they  won  nine  games,  lost  eight  and'drew 
twenty,  which  may  be  counted  an  average. 

As  the  game  is  now  played  in  England  it  is 
losmg  ground  as  a  means  of  general  physical 
improvement.  We  hear  more  than  one  voice  raised 
against  turning  the  play  into  a  laborious  or  danger- 
ous business,  either  by  interpretation  of  rules,  style 
of  play,  or  by  professionalism.  In  olden  time  the 
game  was  something  very  much  more  gentle  and 
simple,  as  old  prints  show  women  and  children 
standing  near  the  wickets  as  if  playing.  To  our 
eyes  it  is  still  composure  itself  compared  with  base- 
ball. 

The  game  now  runs  to  undue  length,  because  it 
IS  becoming  unequal.  Everything  possible  has 
been  put  in  the  bowler's  way.  The  batsman  is 
practically  allowed  to  guard  his  wickets  with  his 
pads  as  well  as  his  bat.  Against  these  odds,  only 
professional  bowlers,  capable  of  making  the  ball 
break,  which  is  the  change  of  direction  after 
touching  the  ground,  which  our  base-ball  does 
without  touching  when  it  curves,  can  cope.  Without 
a  good  bowler  it  is  fully  possible  for  an  average 


CRICKET.  169 

team,  which  may  happen  to  get  to  the  bat  first,  to 
run  up  amazing  scores,  and  to  run  out  the  game  to 
a  draw  on  time  limit,  even  to  three  days,  without 
giving  the  other  side  a  chance  at  all.  Thus  a  pro- 
fessional bowler  at  least  becomes  a  part  of  nearly 
every  amateur  game. 

The  difficulty  with  professionalism  in  English 
cricket,  which  we  get  over  in  American  base-ball 
by  keeping  the  two  classes  entirely  separate,  is 
thus  hard  to  combat  in  that  country.  There  is 
hardly  any  amateur  cricket  bowling  worthy  the 
name,  so  great  is  the  amount  of  time  required  to 
attain  it. 

As  transplanted  here,  the  game  has  one  advan- 
tage, that  up  to  the  present  time  there  is  little  pro- 
fessionalism. 

The  empirical  rule  usually  followed,  that  each 
side  must  complete  its  batting  before  the  other  side 
has  a  chance,  in  which  respect  base-ball  has  the 
advantage,  prevents  the  neck  and  neck  interest  of 
the  American  game,  though  it  may  make  the  spec- 
tator more  of  a  critic  and  less  of  a  gambler.  It  is 
a  question  whether  the  general  interest  in  the  big 
matches  is  not  due  solely  to  the  company  and 
fashion,  and  not  to  the  game. 

In  Americanizing  the  game,  the  most  we  have 
done  is  to  limit  the  hours  of  play  in  any  one  game 
and  to  play  more  one-inning  matches,  such  as  are 
not  usually  played,  except  as  what  might  be  called 


170      ATHLETICS  JROk  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

second-class  matches  or  those  gotten  up  for  amuse- 
ment on  a  Saturday  half-holiday.  As  it  now  stands, 
cricket  is  the  same  the  world  over,  which  in  one 
way  is  an  advantage.  It  would  seem  that  the  game 
has  never  been  acclimated  here,  simply  transplanted. 
When  we  adopted  English  foot-ball  we  changed  it 
to  suit  our  requirements.  Our  base-ball  itself  was 
an  Americanizing  of  an  English  prototype.  It  has 
been  claimed  that  the  only  reason  we  have  not 
adopted  cricket  is  because  we  were  not  allowed  to 
Americanize  it,  though  had  we  done  so,  it  would 
not  have  been  so  grievous  a  sin  as  some  imagined. 
The  English  schools,  which  to  some  extent  have  in 
turn  adopted  American  base-ball ,  have  made  certain 
changes  in  the  rules  to  suit  English  ideas  without 
asking  our  permission,  and  the  two  countries  have 
not  vSeen  fit  to  go  to  war  about  it. 

The  customary  hours  of  play  in  the  great  English 
all-day  cricket  matches  are  to  start  play  at  twelve 
o'clock  each  day.  At  two  o'clock  lunch  is  served, 
which  takes  one  hour.  At  three  play  begins  again 
and  is  continued  until  five  or  six  at  the  latest,  stop- 
ping in  time  for  dinner. 

American  cricket  often  makes  the  morning  hour 
eleven  o'clock,  with  shorter  lunch  hour  ;  and  more 
promptness  in  play  and  between  innings  is  insisted 
on  ;  all  of  which  is  in  the  line  of  what  the  best 
amateur  English  players  propose  in  their  attempts 
to  preserve  real  old-fashioned  English  cricket,  with 


CRICKET.  171 

enjoyment  and  innocent  recreation  for  mind  and 
body  in  the  game  itself.  They  do  not  wish  it  to 
be  a  national  game  only  because  it  is  the  fashion 
to  find  everybody  present  at  the  great  games  at 
Lord's  in  the  fashionable  season. 

It  is  difficult  to  tell  which  of  the  two  games  of 
cricket  and  base-ball  is  the  more  scientific.  The 
visiting  English  team  in  America  in  1886,  saw  one 
of  our  high-priced  pitchers  at  work  at  base-ball, 
and  thought  his  balls  easy  to  hit.  On  making  the 
remark  they  were  accommodated  with  a  trial. 
Much  to  their  surprise  their  best  batsmen  found 
the  balls  anything  but  easy  to  hit.  The  base-ball 
men,  also  the  best  in  their  class,  were  then  given 
a  trial  at  cricket,  with  the  best  of  the  visitors 
against  them,  and  were  likewise  surprised. 

A  good  athlete  may  be  an  excellent  cricketer, 
but  it  by  no  means  follows  that  a  good  cricketer  is 
always  an  athlete.  It  requires  more  training  than 
cricket  to  be  an  all-round  man. 

It  so  happens,  though,  that  one  addicted  to 
cricket,  except  he  be  a  professional,  usually  follows 
some  other  sport  also. 

Its  votaries  speak  of  cricket  as  a  glorious  game. 
Wellington,  it  is  claimed,  said  that  the  battle  of 
Waterloo  was  won  in  Eton  cricket  fields,  meaning 
that  it  was  there  and  in  similar  places  that  his  offi- 
cers and  men  had  learned  staying  power,  and  stay- 
ing power  and  health  are  synonymous  terms,     No 


172      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

one  can  stay  well  who  has  not  a  moderately  strong 
healthy  heart,  with  good  lungs  or  bellows  power, 
and  bodily  muscles  to  match. 

In  favor  of  cricket  as  a  healthful  sport  we  have 
much  negative  recommendation.  We  hear  of  hurt- 
ful surroundings  in  other  sports,  but  never  a  word 
of  reproach  in  connection  with  cricket.  As  a  men- 
tal recreation  it  fosters  correct  judgment  because  it 
is  necessary  to  estimate  the  strength  or  weakness 
of  opponents  and  to  have  decision  to  use  the 
knowledge.  Patience  and  good  temper  are  essen- 
tial, also  coolness,  perseverance  and  quickness  in 
emergencies.     No  fool  can  be  a  good  cricketer. 

It  is  usually  conceded  that  to  become  a  proficient 
cricketer  one  must  begin  to  play  in  his  youth  and 
continue  the  practice  every  year.  A  few  weeks' 
play  will  not  develop  him  into  even  an  ordinary 
player.  An  English  amateur  player  who  has  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  school  or  college  can,  on 
entering  practical  life,  play  for  his  county,  or  on 
the  representative  eleven  of  his  town.  This  is 
expensive  business  or  amusement  as  he  may  look 
at  it,  and  leaves  no  time  for  other  business  or  pro- 
fession. If  he  cannot  afford  this  and  is  a  good 
cricketer,  he  often  becomes  a  professional,  possibly 
of  the  better  sort,  such  as  in  England  are  kept  in 
every  school  for  coaching  and  directing  cricket 
and  perhaps  other  athletic  matters.  To  their 
credit   it   should    be    said    that   this   professional 


AN  oi,D  cricke;te:r  in  batting  position. 


CRICKET.  173 

instructor  class  is  composed  mostly  of  men  of  high 
character,  unspoiled  by  the  admiration  and  toady- 
ing which  a  professional  cricketer  usually  gets 
from  an  admiring  crowd.  The  best  professional 
men,  as  here,  gravitate  toward  an  instructorship,  in 
which  they  earn  a  decent  and  respectable  liveli- 
hood. Of  course  there  are  duffers  in  this  class 
also,  but  they  soon  find  their  level. 

As  to  whether  the  pursuit  of  the  game  need  thus 
interfere  with  the  business  of  life.  Dr.  W.  G.  Grace, 
the  great  cricketer,  who  is  in  his  own  person  a 
typically  developed  one,  thinks  not.  He  says: 
"Very  few  are  so  situated  that  they  cannot  spare 
one  hour  daily  in  season  for  practice"  (if  they 
don't  have  to  go  too  far  for  it,  of  course,  as  many 
of  our  city  people  do),  ' '  and  the  Saturday  afternoon 
for  matches,  and  that  we  believe  to  be  sufficient  to 
keep  in  form  for  representative  matches."  Of 
course  professional  and  other  duties  will  prevent  a 
man  getting  away  for  a  month  or  two  in  the  season 
to  play  for  the  county.  These  remarks  refer,  of 
course,  to  one  who  has  already  learned  cricket,  and 
it  would  seem  from  this,  if  a  player  were  once 
in  practice,  that  he  could  with  a  little  work  keep 
his  skill.  The  game  cannot  be  very  rough  and 
trying,  for  the  reason  that  many  middle-aged  men 
and  some  quite  old  men  have  been  known  to  play 
it  and  play  it  well.  Mr.  Grace  himself  was  not 
young  when  he  was  at  his  best  as  a  player.  One 
Father  Budd  played  at  four-score  years. 


174      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

It  is  possible  for  the  game  to  be  played  by  many 
kinds  of  people,  and  under  many  diverse  circum- 
stances. It  has  been  played  even  where  grass 
could  not  grow,  on  sand,  on  gravel,  or  on  ice,  as 
between  the  crews  of  the  Hecla  and  Fury  in 
March,  1823,  ^^^  Parry's  second  voyage  of  the 
northwest  passage,  which,  by  the  way,  was  a  month 
not  used  for  cricket  in  England. 

A  game  was  played  at  Hong  Kong  in  October, 
1874,  when  it  was  so  hot  that  when  the  middle 
stump  was  bowled  out  during  a  match,  the  two 
bails  remained  in  their  position.  It  was  found  that 
the  varnish  had  melted  and  had  glued  the  bails 
together.  This  has  happened  elsewhere.  There 
have  been  matches  between  women,  married  women 
against  single  women  and  the  like.  There  was 
also  once  a  match  between  one-arm  men  and  one- 
legged  men.  The  one-armed  men  won.  The  one- 
legged  men  were  continually  breaking  or  losing 
their  wooden  supports.  It  is  to  be  supposed  they 
were  bowled  out  as  stumps. 

In  accounting  for  the  comparative  slowness  of 
the  game  under  certain  circumstances,  as  when 
professionals  are  employed  with  amateurs,  particu- 
larly in  county  elevens,  an  Englishman  remarks 
that  these  professionals,  whose  bread  and  butter 
depends  upon  it,  play  not  so  much  to  win  the 
match,  as  to  increase  their  individual  average  on 
which    other    engagements    depend.       Their   sole 


CRICKET,  175 

object  is  to  keep  up  the  wicket,  not  to  run,  and 
they  wish,  if  possible,  to  carry  out  their  bat  at  the 
end  of  the  innings.  They  have  an  utter  indiffer- 
ence as  to  how  slowly  the  runs  may  be  coming  in. 
Nothing  is  so  dispiriting  or  exasperating  as  to  watch 
such  a  game,  when  over  after  over  is  played  with 
the  same  studied  accuracy  and  precision,  but  with 
a  blank  score,  or  at  most  a  rate  of  eight  or  nine 
runs  an  hour.  No  other  kind  of  batting  is  so  dis- 
mal to  bowl  to,  nor  so  wearying  to  the  bowler. 
Such  cricket  is  not  noble.  Such  professionals  hold 
their  audience  mainly  because  they  have  a  circle  of 
friends,  admirers  and  imitators  present.  But  such  a 
listless  game  is  to  many  an  Englishman  an  ideal  of 
holiday  enjoyment.  Such  people  would  resent  fast 
scoring  as  disturbing  to  the  digestion.  The  slow 
movements  of  the  batters  are  soothing  and  delightful. 
Complaints  are  made  that  with  such  play  batting 
has  become  too  cautious  and  mechanical,  to  the  loss 
of  physical  exercise  in  the  game.  In  informal 
games  among  amateurs,  fast  bowlers  are  seldom 
seen.  Ivong  catches  in  the  field  are  being  made 
impossible,  not  only  by  the  play,  but  by  the  increas- 
ing smallness  of  the  boundaries.  There  is  little 
risk  of  being  ' '  run  out. ' '  When  the  batsman  in 
old  times  would  have  been  running  his  hardest  for 
four  or  five,  he  now  adjusts  his  pads  and  talks  to 
the  umpire,  while  some  one  in  the  crowd  fetches 
the  ball  and  throws  it  in. 


176      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

A  county  match  batsman  usually  finds  a  slow 
bowler  at  each  end.  The  wicket  keeper  will,  if  he 
is  lucky,  get  one  ball  to  every  four  overs.  The 
play  consists  of  the  bowler  tossing  balls  of  every 
variety  of  length,  which  the  batsman  deals  with 
according  as  contempt,  fury,  or  caution  predomi- 
nates. 

The  worst  of  it  is  that  this  spiritless  and 
mechanical  style  of  play,  which  thus  converts  an 
animated  and  exciting  game  into  a  speculative 
business,  is  not  confined  only  to  where  profes- 
sionals rule.  Unpunctuality  in  commencing  a 
match  and  dawdling  over  lunches  and  between 
innings  often  add  slowness  and  want  of  life.  This 
is  not  so  noticeable  in  first-class  matches,  but  it 
is  common  to  provincial  games.  In  towns,  for 
instance,  where  the  clerks  and  apprentices  who 
make  up  the  local  eleven  have  only  their  Satur- 
day half-holiday  in  which  to  play,  it  would  be 
supposed  that  they  would  be  eager  to  begin  as 
soon  as  possible  after  the  hour,  two  o'clock,  so 
as  to  get  all  the  available  daylight.  Nothing 
could  be  further  from  their  intentions.  Three 
o'clock  has  usually  struck  before  the  heavy  crick- 
eter, presumably  the  professional  or  his  imitator, 
saunters  leisurely  to  the  ground,  smoking  ciga- 
rettes in  a  lordly  fashion  and  followed  by  a  small 
boy  carrying  the  cricket  bag.  The  player  marches 
slowly  to  the  pavilion  and  condescends  to  put  on 


CRICKET.  177 

liis  flannels,  which  appear  to  have  seen  consider- 
ably more  cricket  than  their  wearer.  At  last,  after 
half-past  three,  he  strolls  into  the  field  and  the 
play  commences.  It  is  continued,  in  more  or  less 
desultory  fashion  and  without  any  startling  epi- 
sodes, until  six,  when  exhausted  nature  evidently 
requires  refreshment;  for  whether  the  one-inning 
match  is  finished  or  not,  and  though  it  is  still 
broad  daylight,  the  players  retire  in  a  body  for  tea. 
Next  week  the  local  papers  contain  an  account  of 
this  brilliant  performance,  with  the  average  of  the 
chief  performer,  who  is  usually  a  stout  professional 
rather  the  worse  for  wear.  And  yet  in  the  face  of 
all  this  Englishmen  wonder  how  we  can  take  so 
much  interest  in  a  game  which  is  so  largely  in  the 
hands  of  professionals  as  base-ball. 

It  is  against  such  abuses  as  these,  which  in 
cricket  we  have  not  reached  in  America,  that 
many  English  gentlemen  players  are  trying  to 
contend,  as  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  the  game. 
They  instance  as  better  cricket  and  more  delight- 
ful, the  sight  of  a  group  of  English  small  boys 
playing  the  game  in  their  own  free  and  primitive 
fashion,  a  half-dozen  bare-footed  urchins  on  some 
rough  ground  or  damp  meadow  by  the  river  side, 
showing  immense  sport  and  gusto,  but  using  the 
most  inadequate  apparatus.  This  is  often  a  dilapi- 
dated old  bat,  three  sticks  of  unequal  length  and  a 
ball  that  is  bursting  at  the  seams.     The  eagerness 

12 


178      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

of  the  players,  tempered  by  an  almost  judicial 
gravity  at  critical  moments,  is  delightful  to  con- 
template. They  are  all  so  absorbed  in  the  game 
that  they  will  not  notice  the  spectator.  Their 
bowling  is  modeled  after  the  popular  champion  of 
the  day.  The  field  is  placed  chiefly  on  the  side 
that  will  keep  balls  out  of  the  river.  There  will 
be  a  continuous  running  accompaniment  of  shouts 
and  yells  at  each  successful  stroke,  making  alto- 
gether a  lively  and  delightful  scene.  The  game 
thus  played,  as  contrasted  with  the  second-class 
one  before  described,  is  far  more  interesting  and 
far  better  for  athletic  development. 

As  we  were  tempted  to  leave  our  province  and 
give  a  few  technical  directions  by  the  very  concise 
couplet  on  horsemanship,  so  in  this  case  we  again 
exceed  our  limits  to  show  the  positions  of  the 
players  in  a  game  of  cricket,  for  the  reason  that 
they  are  all  so  cleverly  defined  in  the  accompany- 
ing caricature  [Fig.  2i].  The  old  cricketer  will 
recognize  them  all  and  will  vouch  for  their 
correctness. 

A  word  more  on  the  pleasures  of  cricket.  Friend- 
ship is  a  good  thing  and  also  anything  that  pro- 
motes friendship.  The  friendship  of  cricketers  is 
proverbial.  Some  say  it  is  the  green  fields,  the 
bright  sunshine,  the  emulation  side  by  side  that 
does  it.  Others  say  it  is  because  the  game  itself 
tends  to  make  conceit  and  selfishness  vanish,  and 


180      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

humility  and  consideration  for  others  flourish, 
because  they  are  fully  appreciated.  The  players, 
if  they  play  the  game  as  it  should  be  played,  play 
side  by  side  for  the  common  good,  not  every  one 
for  himself,  or  like  the  man  who  works  for  his 
individual  record  with  an  eye  to  future  engage- 
ments. An  example  of  unselfish  play  was  shown 
by  the  Irish  players  in  America,  by  whose  active 
help  a  close  game  was  finished  adversely  to  them- 
selves in  the  last  half  minute  allowed  for  the  play, 
they  hurrying  in  their  man  when  they  could  have 
made  a  draw  by  an  opposite  course.  The  one 
decisive  run  was  only  gained  because  the  last  Irish- 
man was  sent  in  by  his  captain  without  even  giving 
him  time  to  put  on  his  leg-guards.  What  friend- 
ship could  be  more  enduring  than  one  built  on  the 
love  of  others  rather  than  self. 


Foot  Ball 


Foot-ball. 

We  come  now  to  foot-ball,  one  of  the  survivals 
of  primitive  sport  with  a  ball,  and  one  in  which 
nothing  but  a  ball  is  used.  It  is  played  without 
club  or  bat  or  other  apparatus  of  any  kind.  It 
comes  down  from  very  remote  antiquity  and  is 
probably  an  altered  form  of  an  ancient  Roman 
game  of  hand-ball.  "Thou  base  foot-ball  player," 
says  a  character  in  King  lycar  to  a  man  who  has 
been  tripped  up.  The  game  is  much  older  than 
cricket.  It  has  made  such  strides  in  late  years  that 
it  is  doubtful  whether  in  England,  the  home  of 
cricket,  the  national  game  is  now  cricket  or  foot- 
ball. 

The  old  game  was  played  by  a  party  of  men, 
sometimes  including  women,  who  were  very  much 
in  the  form  of  a  mob,  which  was  bound  to  get  a 
ball,  a  blown-up  bladder  probably,  somewhere, 
somehow,  or  by  some  means,  no  matter  how.  Any 
number  of  players  took  part.  The  field  was  made 
to  correspond  with  the  number  of  players.  At  the 
English  Shrove  Tuesday  games,  the  day  set  apart 
by  common  consent  when  everybody  must  play 
foot-ball,  the  sides  were  often  whole  parishes  and 

(183) 


184       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

the  goals  on  each  side  were  the  widely  separated 
parish  churches  belonging  to  two  rival  parishes. 

On  these  Shrove  Tuesdays  it  was  customary  in 
towns  to  close  houses  and  board  up  windows  from 
fear  of  damage.  The  game  has  been  interdicted 
time  and  again,  as  a  reminder  of  which  we  find 
certain  English  towns  to  this  day  holding  to  con- 
cessions, giving  special  rights  to  put  down  a  foot- 
ball in  the  main  streets  on  Shrove  Tuesday. 

The  game  has  not  always  been  interdicted  for  its 
roughness  only,  though  James  I.  ordered  the  heir 
apparent  not  to  play  it  for  that  reason,  but  for 
another  reason  altogether.  It  was  too  popular  and 
interfered  with  other  things.  Edward  III.  pro- 
hibited it  because  it  interfered  with  the  practice  of 
archery,  on  which  the  power  of  the  nation  at  that 
time  depended.  It  is  curious  to  note  at  this  time 
similar  regulations  of  English  foot-ball  clubs  pro- 
hibiting the  game  from  being  played  in  the  cricket 
season,  because  its  popularity  interferes  with 
cricket. 

The  ancient  game  was  played  in  many  ways. 
The  common  people  played  it  in  one  way.  The 
schools  desired  more  skill  and  intellect,  and  at  each 
school  headquarters  the  game  was  altered  to  suit 
local  ideas.  Nearly  all  these  divergencies  have 
now  been  sifted  down  to  two  prominent  styles,  the 
Rugby  game,  adopted  by  the  Rugby  Association  on 
the  basis  of  the  game  as  it  was  played  at  Rugby 


FOOT-BALL.  185 

School,  and  the  Association  game  formulated  by 
other  players  who  did  not  play  the  Rugby  game, 
who  were  organized  before  the  Rugby  Association. 

The  Rugby  game  is  the  scientific  game,  a  game 
of  military  resource  and  strategy,  a  game  of  chess 
on  the  green  sward.  The  Association  game  is  of 
more  value  to  those  who  cannot  devote  the  same 
amount  of  time  and  preparation. 

Rugby  foot-ball  as  played  in  America,  mainly  by 
schools  and  colleges,  is  not  the  Rugby  game  of 
to-day  in  England.  Previous  to  its  adoption  our 
colleges  sometimes  played  a  haphazard  game  very 
much  like  what  the  older  generations  remember  to 
have  played  on  Thanksgiving  afternoons.  Shortly 
after  the  first  Rugby  rules  were  adopted  in  England, 
the  Americans  took  them  up  from  the  printed 
copy,  never  having  seen  a  game.  They  did  not 
know  how  to  interpret  the  rules  and  met  with  sev- 
eral difficulties.  They  then  set  to  work  to  remedy 
these  to  suit  themselves,  with  the  result  that  a 
variant  of  the  game  was  produced.  The  later 
Rugby  rules  in  England  have  since  themselves 
been  altered  which  makes  still  further  variations. 

Thus  we  have  at  least  three  prominent  varieties, 
English  Rugby,  American  Rugby  and  Association. 
The  English  game  presents  more  variety  still. 
Several  of  the  great  public  schools  which  have 
gradually  evolved  their  own  type  refuse  to  give  it 
up,    they  being   in    England  where   precedent   is 


186      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

everything.  At  Harrow  and  Westminster  two 
separate  and  dissimilar  games  exist,  while  at  Eton 
there  are  two  other  widely  dissimilar  games  in 
the  same  school,  the  "Field"  and  the  "Wall" 
game. 

According  to  the  Saturday  Review^  there  is  no 
game  like  foot-ball,  none  which  so  completely  and 
continuously  engages  all  the  combative  instincts 
of  mankind,  and  at  the  same  time  kindles  so  warm 
a  feeling  of  active  alliance  and  zealous  co-operation 
between  those  whom  it  binds  together  for  an  hour 
or  for  a  season.  As  the  game  asks  a  large  amount 
of  self-control,  there  is  no  better  school  for  develop- 
ing a  man  or  boy's  command  of  his  passions.  Con- 
trary to  perhaps  much  sage  advice  on  the  subject, 
let  it  be  said  that  if  a  boy  has  a  naturally  quick 
temper,  foot-ball  is  not  a  game  he  should  avoid, 
but  one  he  should  practice.  He  will  be  made  to 
control  himself  If  there  is  a  flash  of  temper 
for  a  moment  it  is  usually  only  like  a  passing 
cloud.  Anything  like  mean  or  shabby  conduct 
receives  its  own  punishment  on  the  spot,  as  it 
is  always  marked  by  the  strong  disapproval  of 
the  crowd.  Like  other  manly  sports,  foot-ball  is 
a  school  for  discipline  in  the  rules  of  honor  and 
fair  play. 

If  a  man  is  naturally  timid  or  lacks  presence  of 
mind,  if  he  has  a  fair  share  of  physical  force,  foot- 
ball will   rouse   his   sense  of  manhood,  give   him 


FOOT-BALL.  187 

"  nerve  "  and  make  him  self-reliant.  A  cool  head, 
quickness  of  decision  and,  of  course,  great  pluck, 
are  the  main  virtues  of  a  foot-ball  player. 

The  pluck  needed  in  the  competitions  of  life  is 
just  the  pluck  demanded  by  foot- ball;  and  the 
young  man  who  has  learned  to  bear  the  brunt  of 
a  foot-ball  contest,  can  fight  a  battle  anywhere. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  says  of  a  game  of  foot-ball : 

Then  up,  lads,  and  to  it,  though  sharp  be  the  weather, 
And  if  by  mischance  you  should  happen  to  fall, 

There  are  worse  things  in  life  than  a  tumble  on  heather; 
And  life  is  itself  but  a  game  of  foot-ball. 

The  game,  in  both  the  Association  and  Rugby 
forms,  is  gaining  popularity  in  America.  It  bids 
fair  to  become  a  national  sport.  It  is  getting  a 
following  outside  of  college  and  school  circles  and 
every  year  larger  audiences  attend  the  games.  The 
combination  of  discipline,  individual  skill  and 
strength  which  the  game  calls  for,  the  splendid 
finesse^  the  elements  of  personal  combat  which 
always  delight  the  savage  instinct  still  lingering 
in  the  breast  even  of  the  most  civilized  among  us, 
are  qualities  which  account  for  the  growing  popu- 
larity, and  they  promise  a  vogue  greater  than  now 
enjoyed.  In  a  few  years  we  shall  probably  go  to 
great  length  as  in  base-ball,  and  have  in  all  great 
cities  professional  elevens,  when  thousands  will 
gather  to  shout  themselves  hoarse  at  the  exploits 
of  hired  rushers  and  backs. 


188      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

If  we  thus  transfer  the  base-ball  conditions  to 
the  foot-ball  field,  before  the  kind  of  public  that 
now  goes  to  the  base-ball  games  with  professional 
players,  it  is  a  question  whether  it  will  be  in  a 
line  of  improvement  in  the  game  as  a  means  of 
physical  culture.  There  is  so  much  of  the  savage 
left  in  the  average  citizen  that  nothing  draws  like 
a  prize  fight.  It  will  be  the  slugging  matches  in 
foot-ball  that  will  count.  The  fist  and  not  the 
open  hand  as  now  will  be  the  popular  form,  and 
the  managers  will  respond  to  the  demand.  Possi- 
bly in  the  end  the  brutalizing  effects  will  become 
such  that  like  the  prize  fight  it  will  have  to  be 
prohibited  by  law.  Against  such  a  result  all  the 
friends  of  the  sport  and  of  physical  culture  should 
unite. 

Now  a  word  as  to  what  the  game  itself  is.  Mr. 
Gale's  definition  of  the  Rugby  game  is  that  "the 
ball  is  like  a  mutton  chop  which  A  is  about  to 
devour  with  a  keen  appetite,  which  ^-snatches 
from  him,  when  A  collars  B^  and  B  throws  it  to  C, 
who  is  collared  by  Z>,  and  so  on  by  E^  till  every 
one  is  collared  by  each  other,  and  the  mutton  gets 
thrown  out  of  the  crowd  and  a  passing  dog  bolts 
with  it  and  no  one  gets  it  at  all."  He  thinks  also, 
that  whatever  the  points  of  the  game  may  be, 
which  are  too  complicated  for  any  but  experts  to 
master,  be  they  what  they  may,  the  game  itself  is 
a  fine  manly  sport  and  very  exciting  to  look  at. 


FOOT-BALL,  189 

It  has  lost  nothing  in  interest  by  being  divested  of 
some  of  the  rougher  play  of  the  past,  which  has 
been  discontinued  by  mutual  consent. 

Mr.  Walter  Camp's  description  of  the  same  form 
of  the  game  in  America  is  slightly  clearer: 

"  It  is  played  by  two  teams  of  eleven  men  eaeh\ 
upon  a  field  330  feet  long  and  160  feet  wide,  at 
either  end  of  which  are  goal  posts  with  a  cross-bar. 

"The  ball,  which  is  like  a  large  leather  ^^%^  is 
placed  in  the  centre  of  this  field  and  each  team 
endeavors  to  drive  it  in  the  direction  of  the  oppo- 
nent's goal  line,  where  any  scoring  must  be  done. 
Goals  and  touch-downs  are  all  that  count.  A  goal 
may  be  had  by  kicking  the  ball  in  a  certain  way 
over  the  cross-bar  of  the  opponent's  goal.  A 
touch-down  is  obtained  by  touching  the  ball  to  the 
ground  behind  the  line  of  the  goal.  So,  in  either 
case,  the  ball  must  cross  the  end  of  the  field  in 
some  way  to  make  a  score.  The  sole  object  of  all 
the  struggles  in  the  field  is  to  advance  the  ball  to 
where  scoring  is  possible.  The  white  lines  on  the 
field  are  only  to  assist  the  referee  in  determining 
how  far  the  ball  moves." 

The  difference  between  Rugby  and  Association 
foot-ball,  is  mainly  in  the  fact  that  in  the  former 
any  player  may  handle  and  carry  the  ball  under 
certain  rules,  running  with  it  at  times,  like  in  the 
ancient  Roman  game  of  hand-ball.  In  the  Asso- 
ciation game,  only  one  man  can  touch  hands  to  it, 


190      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

it  being  a  kicking  game.  When  feet  do  not  suffice, 
butting  with  the  head  is  resorted  to.  The  Associa- 
tion ball  is  round.  That  form  of  the  game  has 
grown  to  such  magnitude  in  England,  where  spe- 
cial clubs  exist  everywhere,  to  represent  towns, 
counties  and  whatnot,  that  a  regular  professional 
class  has  already  sprung  up,  the  professionals  play- 
ing in  entire  teams  or  with  amateurs.  That  form 
of  the  game  is  in  its  infancy  in  America.  It 
deserves  attention. 

It  is  said  that  the  Association  game  is  the  one 
game  in  which  amateurs  can  always  hold  their  own 
with  professionals.  Though  prime  physical  condi- 
tion is  necessary  as  in  Rugby,  the  time  required  to 
keep  in  practice  need  not  occupy  a  lifetime, 
though  the  game  has  grown  to  be  almost  as  scien- 
tific as  Rugby.  It  has  the  same  opportunities  for 
team  work. 

As  in  cricket,  the  foot-ball  player  who  plays  for 
himself  and  not  his  side,  loses  many  points  in  a 
game  where  the  main  feature  is  passing  a  ball  to 
a  friend,  who  is  in  a  comparatively  open  space  and 
better  situated  for  getting  it  away  from  opposing 
foes  in  front.  Says  Mr.  Gale,  referring  to  English 
audiences,  "it  is  curious  to  watch  how  quickly  the 
lookers-on  appreciate  unselfishness.  They  roar, 
'  well  passed '  when  a  player  is  content  to  turn 
the  ball  over  to  his  neighbor,  who  is  in  better  posi- 
tion for  forwarding  it;  but  there  is  on  the  other 


FOOT-BALL.  191 

hand,  an  agonizing  cry  of  '  shoot  !  shoot  !'  when 
a  player  tries  to  keep  a  ball  to  himself  on  a  chance 
of  kicking  a  goal  himself  and  not  letting  one  of 
his  own  side  do  it  instead." 

Any  way,  foot-ball  in  both  kinds,  which  has  the 
advantage  that  it  can  be  played  outdoors  when 
base-ball  cannot,  deserves  the  thanks  of  thousands 
of  young  men  and  of  those  to  whom  they  belong 
for  promoting  health  by  exercise,  often  in  the  dead 
of  winter,  and  for  sending  them  out  into  the  pure 
air  and  giving:  them  the  hardihood  to  face  wet  and 
cold  with  no  protection  but  a  jersey  and  a  pair  of 
flannel  trousers.  The  game  must  be  attractive, 
for  it  takes  a  great  deal  to  make  a  man  willing  to 
take  a  roll  in  the  mud,  and  at  the  same  time  retain 
the  best  temper  in  the  world. 

The  fact  that  the  game  is  thus  played  in  winter 
has  at  times  raised  a  cry  that  it  is  unhealthy, 
because  men  have  died  from  exposure  during  foot- 
ball playing  in  wintry  days.  Doubtless  a  winter's 
sport  gives  greater  chance  for  such  mishaps  than  a 
summer  one,  but  the  mishaps  are  not  due  only  to 
the  game,  but  also  to  the  carelessness  that  has  fol- 
lowed. A  foot-baller  cannot  play  without  getting 
warm,  and  if  he  change  his  clothes  before  the 
warmth  has  gone  he  has  nothing  to  fear.  Upon 
similar  reasoning  walking  along  a  road  in  the  rain 
could  be  proved  to  be  more  dangerous  than  playing 
foot-ball  on  a  cold  day.     For  every  one  who  may 


192        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

have  been  harmed  by  foot-ball,  a  thousand  have 
benefited,  which  should  be  considered  at  any  rate. 

The  base-ball  player  can  have  no  better  prepara- 
tion for  his  ball  season  than  playing  the  Association 
game.  It  brightens  the  eye  and  steadies  the  nerve. 
It  does  away  with  the  getting  into  condition  neces- 
sary at  the  beginning  of  every  base-ball  season  for 
those  who  have  not  the  use  of  indoor  cages  in  which 
to  practice  base-ball  playing  in  winter,  in  the  latest 
improved  style.  The  game  benefits  the  athlete  in 
other  fields  in  many  ways,  particularly  in  wind.  It 
develops  strength  of  wind  instead  of  knocking  it 
out  of  a  man. 

The  Rugby  game  has  been  called  a  succession 
of  emergencies  or  war  without  the  quarrel.  There 
is  no  sport  known  which  by  its  very  nature  so 
mimics  the  art  of  war.  The  tactics,  the  formation, 
the  strategy,  the  attack  and  defence,  are  all  war- 
like arts.  Many  commanders  have  said  that  a  good 
foot-ball  player  makes  a  good  soldier.  It  is  certain 
that  all  the  conditions  of  success  which  can  be 
shown  from  books  to  have  been  important  consid- 
erations in  any  particular  battle,  can  be  duplicated 
in  actual  life  on  the  foot-ball  field.  The  opportu- 
nity for  original  maneuvers  are  unbounded.  The 
more  strategic  team  can  always  discount  a  team  of 
superior  avoirdupois.  Foot-ball  also  gives  good 
schooling  to  the  soldier  in  tractability,  habits  of 
command  and  co-operation,  and  in  ability  to  labor 


FOOT-BALL.  193 

under  defeat,  which  are  all  of  value  in  any  walk  of 
life. 

Mr.  Johnson,  in  the  Century^  draws  attention  to 
the  military  character  of  the  game,  and  says  it  has 
become  more  scientific  and  difficult  to  play  on  that 
account,  and  has,  in  fact,  become  entirely  a  game 
of  strategy.     He  says: 

"  It  can  best  be  comprehended  by  comparing  the 
foot-ball  field  to  a  battlefield,  and  the  respective 
sides  to  two  armies  managed  on  military  principles. 
Four  arms  of  the  foot-ball  service  has  been  devel- 
oped. The  rush  line  is  the  infantry,  who  must  be 
agile,  very  fair  runners  and  quick  at  tackling. 

' '  The  quarter-back  answers  very  much  to  the 
quartermaster's  department.  He  takes  the  ball 
from  the  centre-rush  and  serves  it  out  to  the  players 
back  of  him,  who  are  to  do  the  running.  He  may 
be  smaller  than  the  rushers,  but  must  be  active, 
clear-headed  and  capable  of  meeting  very  hard 
usage. 

' '  Behind  the  quarter-back  are  the  half-backs,  the 
cavalry  of  the  team.  They  are  the  runners  par 
excellence — must  be  runners.  They  must  make  a 
straight  forward  dash  for  an  opening  in  the  enemy's 
line,  or  flank  the  opposing  line. 

"  Furthest  in  the  rear  is  the  eleventh  player,  the 
'full-back.'  He  constitutes  the  artillery  of  the 
team.  He  relieves  too  great  pressure  by  an  oppor- 
tune punt  over  the  heads  of  the  line,  and  so  carries 

.13 


194      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

the  conflict  into  the  enemy's  territory.  When  one 
appreciates  the  great  military  character  of  the  game, 
he  will  see  the  full  beauty  of  the  team  play,  before 
which  all  individual  play  will  pale.  He  can  then 
appreciate  the  real  strategy  with  which  the  oppos- 
ing captains  handle  the  respective  arms  of  the  ser- 
vice, putting  cavalry  against  infantry  here,  scattering 
cavalry  by  infantry  there,  or  using  artillery  to  search 
out  weak  points." 

Mr.  Shaler,  in  ih^  Atlantic^  thinks  that  "in  no 
other  form  of  activity  during  the  time  of  peace 
can  we  hope  to  gain  so  valuable  military  training 
for  our  youth.  It  appears  to  be  better  to  bear  with 
any  little  dangers  we  may  incur  in  the  game  in 
order  to  retain  a  system  of  discipline  or  instruction, 
the  peculiar  training  of  which  is  afforded  by  it  alone. 
To  the  ordinary  well-conditioned  young  man  the 
game  has  eminent  advantages.  It  teaches  him  to 
keep  a  cool  head  in  moments  of  great  activity  or 
physical  danger.  In  it  he  learns  to  take  consider- 
able risks  of  bodily  pain  without  hesitation,  and  to 
combine  his  actions  with  that  of  his  mates.  It 
cultivates  swift  judgment,  endurance  and  self-con- 
fidence, without  which  even  the  naturally  brave 
can  never  learn  to  meet  danger. ' ' 

The  physical  dangers  of  the  game  have  now 
been  largely  eliminated  or  can  be.  They  should 
not  be  considered  more  than  we  would  consider 
parallel    cases   in  other  sports.     The   hunter  will 


FOOT-BALL.  195 

not  stop  his  sport  because  someone  gets  hurt,  or 
until  feather  beds  are  placed  on  either  side  of  all 
fences,  nor  the  sportsman  allow  shooting  to  be  out- 
lawed because  somebody  does  not  understand  how 
to  handle  a  gun.  Skating  will  never  come  under 
the  ban  because  people  will  venture  on  ice  which 
is  too  thin. 

As  to  the  physical  benefits  of  the  game  when 
played  only  for  the  sake  of  the  exercise  and  recrea- 
tion it  affords,  there  cannot  be  two  opinions, 
always  provided  that  the  players  are  physically  fit 
for  the  work  they  undertake.  It  is  as  unreason- 
able for  any  one  who  is  unfit  for  violent  exercise 
to  play  and  expect  no  evil  results,  as  for  a  man 
who  has  not  learned  to  swim  to  expect  safety  when 
thrown  into  deep  water.  Compared  with  other 
sports  statistics  show  that  foot-ball  is  not  more 
dangerous  to  life  and  limb. 

The  features  of  the  game,  which  require  perfect 
physical  condition  in  order  to  have  the  great 
endurance  necessary,  are  the  same  which  give  it 
its  great  value  in  physical  culture  for  those  who 
have  the  time  to  go  into  the  play  properly.  The 
same  features  are  what  have  made  the  game  so 
popular  in  rushing,  pushing  America.  They  are 
similar  to  those  which  made  base-ball  and  not 
cricket  our  choice,  and  which  have  now  made 
foot-ball  a  full  strong  transplanting — a  taking 
root  of  a  foreign  exotic,  and  not  simply  a  hot-house 


196      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

culture.  These  features  include  constant  occu- 
pation for  the  player  and  audience  during  the 
time  the  game  is  in  progress.  To  the  players 
there  is  no  sitting  idle,  for  instance,  while  the  rest 
of  a  side  are  batting.  The  game  also  is  not  neces- 
sarily long  nor  costly,  so  that  if  time,  money  and 
physical  development  count  for  anything,  its  place 
should  be  a  high  one. 

But  it  is  simply  madness  for  any  one  to  take  up 
such  foot-ball  playing  as  requires  great  powers  of 
endurance,  as  in  Rugby  games  by  college  teams, 
unless  he  is  in  every  sense  of  the  word  perfectly 
sound  in  wind  and  limb  and  is  in  good  physical 
training.  What  few  fatal  foot-ball  accidents  have 
occurred,  have  been  mainly  due  to  an  attempt  to 
play  the  game  as  it  is  played  by  trained  teams, 
without  the  requisite  training. 

In  training  for  it,  the  play  is  first  made  short 
and  gentle  and  kept  under  careful  supervision 
until  the  men  begin  to  harden  to  it.  Then  the 
playing  is  gradually  lengthened  and  made  more 
severe  as  the  men  became  able  to  endure  it.  By 
the  time  the  season  nears  its  close,  the  men  are 
able  to  bear  with  impunity  treatment  which  would 
be  fatally  dangerous  to  players  not  in  condition. 

Foot-ball  players  are  usually  brought  to  such  a 
degree  of  physical  perfection  that  it  is  a  pleasure 
to  watch  them.  They  are  taught  to  fall,  when  a 
fall  is  inevitable,  in  such  a  way  as  to  retain  control 


FOOT-BALL.  197 

of  the  ball  and  without  risking  a  broken  bone  or  a 
dislocation.  In  that  way  what  seems  a  frightful 
fall  not  only  produces  no  bruises  whatever,  but  the 
fallen  player  has  to  be  held  down  to  prevent  him 
from  rising  to  his  feet  again  at  once  to  make  off 
with  the  ball.  Accidents  will  at  times  happen,  of 
course,  but  their  happening  has  been  put  out  of  the 
range  of  possibility  as  far  as  possible.  ' '  Warding 
off,"  which  done  rapidly,  as  it  usually  is,  appears 
to  be  slugging,  is  now  done  with  the  open  hand,  or 
should  be.  The  adoption  of  a  rule  to  that  effect 
has  done  away  with  the  slugging  which  was  once 
really  so  objectionable  a  feature  of  the  sport. 

The  consideration  of  the  question  of  preparation 
for  the  game,  and  the  necessity  for  prime  physical 
condition,  opens  the  question  of  how  much  good  a 
business  man,  for  instance,  can  get  out  of  the 
Rugby  game.  In  answer  to  such  a  query,  a  retired 
college  player  at  once  answered:  "  None  whatever. 
The  game  so  altered  as  not  to  require  condition  and 
time  to  get  it,  would  be  a  game  of  no  interest  what- 
ever." Hence,  it  comes  that  college  and  school 
men,  who  can  plan  their  time  to  suit  it,  can  get 
greater  advantage  from  the  Rugby  game. 

The  Association  game,  though  now  largely  sci- 
entific also,  will  better  suit  the  wants  of  many. 
Of  course,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  a  player  of 
the  more  intricate  game  will  discountenance  the 
other. 


198      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

Ill  the  Rugby  game  the  division  of  labor  is  now 
so  great  that  a  man  must  not  only  train,  but  train 
for  the  particular  position  he  occupies.  Hence,  to 
be  an  all-round  athlete,  the  Rugby  foot-ball  player 
should  adopt  some  other  forms  of  athletics  as  well. 
The  rushers  must  be  men  of  wind,  the  back  and 
half-backs  need  more  strength  and  endurance.  In 
any  position,  however,  the  player,  who  must  use 
his  muscles  powerfully,  needs  strong  lungs  and  a 
sound  heart.  Size  and  proportion  are  matters  of 
less  moment  than  good  physical  condition. 

Mr.  Hodge,  in  OtUiiig^  thinks  that  as  the  posi- 
tions on  an  eleven  are  so  many,  and  the  demands 
of  each  are  so  different,  there  is  room  for  every 
variety  of  player.  The  two  half-backs  and  the  full- 
back may  be  indifferently  large  or  small,  of  stocky 
build  or  more  sparely  formed.  It  is  well,  though, 
to  have  one  large  man  behind  the  line.  The  quar- 
ter-back must  be  a  player  of  unusual  dexterity, 
precision  and  self-reliance.  He  can  be  small,  but 
should  be  very  strong.  A  player  of  considerable 
weight  can  find  a  position  in  the  rush  line,  accord- 
ingly as  he  is  heavier  or  lighter,  quicker  or  less 
active.  If  a  fast  runner  and  a  respectable  player 
he  is  available  for  an  end  rusher,  or  if  possessing, 
perhaps,  less  speed  but  great  agility,  he  might  be 
good  for  a  right  or  left  tackier.  If  quite  heavy  but 
dexterous,  at  least  in  the  upper  extremities,  he  can 
fill  right  or  left  guard.      If  strong  enough,  even 


FOOT- BALL.  199 

though  slow,  a  player  of  good  head  should  be  able 
to  play  in  the  centre  at  snapback. 

To  show  what  the  game  will  do  in  physical  de- 
velopment, and  also  to  show  the  prime  physical 
condition  of  a  typical  foot-ball  player,  reference  may 
be  made  to  the  accompanying  illustrations.  Fig. 
22  is  a  young  Harvard  player  who  usually  filled 
the  position  of  centre-rush.  He  evidently  under- 
stood the  art  of  physical  development  too  well  to 
confine  himself  to  one  pursuit,  as  he  was  likewise 
a  rowing  man.  This  was  also  the  case  with  the 
young  Yale  athlete  shown  in  Fig.  23,  a  right-guard 
of  a  noted  eleven. 

The  superb  muscular  development  here  shown, 
Dr.  Sargent  considers  due  mostly  to  the  gymnasium 
and  foot-ball,  not  to  rowing,  though  the  latter  con- 
tributes largely  to  the  development  of  the  back  and 
legs,  and  slightly  to  the  arms  and  chest. 

Foot-ball  is  the  game  to  test  a  man  physically. 
In  the  punching  and  hauling,  the  jostling,  the 
struggle  for  supremacy,  few  muscles  of  the  body  are 
inactive.  The  legs  are  almost  constantly  in  motion, 
and  the  arms,  chest,  abdomen  and  back  get  their 
full  share  of  activity.  The  soreness  and  lameness 
in  those  regions  of  the  body  after  a  fierce  conflict, 
is  due  as  often  to  great  muscular  effort  as  to  colli- 
sion with  opposing  rushers. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  life  friendships  that  result 
from  cricket.     Foot-ball  often  affects  a  young  man's 


200        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

after  life  considerably.  In  the  intensity  of  foot-ball 
competition,  everything  concerning  a  prominent 
player  is  known  to  his  rivals.  They  canvas  all  his 
characteristics.  If  he  is  a  young  student  he  knows 
that  he  will  meet  his  rivals  in  after  life.  As  a  foot- 
ball player  he  is  to  leave  a  reputation  among  his 
contemporaries  which  later  may  be  of  value  or  a 
hindrance.  He  is  not  over-anxious  to  make  that 
reputation  one  for  foul  dealing,  ugly  temper,  or 
brutality.  Such  a  reputation  a  man  will  carry  with 
him  to  his  grave.  In  our  civil  war  the  generals  on 
both  sides  gauged  their  opponents  and  acted  accord- 
ing to  how  they  thought  there  opponents  would 
act,  judging  by  the  reputations  made  and  the  char- 
acters shown  by  the  opposing  generals  when  fel- 
low cadets  at  the  "  Point." 

The  question  is  often  asked  if  foot-ball  in  colleges 
does  not  cause  students  to  spend  more  time  than 
they  should  spare  on  the  game  and  its  training. 

In  answer  it  may  be  said  that  the  requirements 
of  the  college  courses  are  every  year  making  it  less 
possible  for  a  man  to  waste  time  and  stay  in  college. 
The  men  are  now  more  weeded  out,  particularly  in 
the  freshman  year.  The  practical  effect  of  foot- 
ball on  a  student  who  is  a  player  is  simply  to  get 
more  work  out  of  him  than  he  would  otherwise 
give.  The  managers  of  a  foot-ball  team,  if  they 
see  a  promising  ball  man  neglecting  his  college 
work  for  the  game,  act  as  monitors  upon  him,  and 


FIG.   23. 


FOOT-BALL.  201 

keep  him  at  his  work,  to  prevent  him  from  losing 
his  place  in  college  and  consequently  on  the  team 
also.  They  can  often  do  in  this  line  what  a  pro- 
fessor cannot.  Such  a  student  is  not  allowed  to 
waste  time.  There  is  no  mercy  shown  him  by  his 
fellow  foot-ball  athletes.  The  influences  which 
fellow-students  can  bring  to  bear,  the  expedients 
which  they  can  resort  to,  to  exact  study  from  men 
who  do  not  incline  to  it,  can  only  partially  be  under- 
stood outside. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  compare  with  those 
already  given,  the  opinions  of  Drs.  J.  William 
White  and  Horatio  C.  Wood,  both  eminent  univer- 
sity professors  in  medical  departments,  who  as  phy- 
sicians and  foot-ball  experts  discuss  the  game  in  the 
North  America7i  Reviezv.  They  investigate  the 
subject  to  find  if  the  physical  advantages  thereby 
gained  compensate  for  the  injuries  received,  and 
also,  as  professors,  to  ascertain  if  the  game  tends 
to  mental  improvement  or  the  opposite.  They  re- 
fute the  allegations  often  made  as  to  the  demoral- 
izing influences  of  college  foot-ball.  In  relation  to 
the  first  particular  they  claim  that  foot-ball  is  the 
outdoor  sport  for  bringing  all  muscles  into  play. 
They  write: 

''Certainly  whatever  physical  good  can  be  re- 
ceived from  any  form  of  college  athletics  can  be 
obtained  from  foot-ball,  while  above  all  others  it 
tends  to  develop  self-control,  coolness,  fertility  of 


202      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

resource  and  promptness  of  execution  in  sudden 
emergencies  involving  perhaps  danger.  In  other 
words,  no  known  game  compares  with  foot-ball  in 
the  development  in  the  individual  of  those  qualities 
which,  while  they  are  sometimes  spoken  of  as  the 
'military  virtues,'  are  of  enormous  value  to  their 
possessor  in  all  the  struggles  of  life. ' ' 

These  are  a  few  of  the  advantages  mentioned. 
They  also  state  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Sergent,  of 
Cambridge;  Dr.  Seaver,  of  New  Haven;  Dr.  Mac- 
Donald,  of  Princeton,  and  Dr.  White,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, that  "no  instance  of  any  permanent  injury 
to  a  player  had  occurred  in  all  the  long  series  of 
contests  waged  during  the  last  ten  years  on  the 
foot-ball  field." 

This  is  a  brief  statement  of  the  result  of  their 
investigations  as  physicians.  As  professors  whose 
duty  it  is  to  see  that  no  game  is  encouraged  that 
interferes  with  the  mental  development  of  their 
students,  they  find  that  at  Harvard,  Princeton. 
Yale,  Pennsylvania  and  Cornell  the  athletes  are  far 
above  the  class  average,  and  in  this  connection  add: 
' '  If  we  were  selecting  from  any  college  the  young 
men  most  likely  to  endure  the  strains  of  business 
or  professional  life  in  this  country  and  to  score  suc- 
cesses, we  would  be  disposed  to  estimate  the  actual 
working  superiority  of  the  foot-ball  players  far  over 
their  classmates." 

It  would   not    be    proper   to    close  this  chapter 


FOOT-BALL.  203 

without  mention  of  an  exceedingly  interesting  form 
of  the  game,  which,  with  all  our  fondness  for  nov- 
elty, it  is  surprising  has  not  been  attempted  here, 
namely,  the  ' '  Wall  Game  ' '  of  Eton. 

As  before  noticed,  peculiar  forms  of  foot-ball  still 
exist  at  the  English  schools  of  Winchester,  Harrow 
and  Eton.  The  game  at  Winchester  is  particularly 
noticeable  to  the  spectatoi  by  reason  of  the  two  high 
parallel  walls  of  wire  netting  which  enclose  the 
bounds  for  the  entire  length,  and  which  form  a 
feature  of  play  in  the  game.  The  game  at  Harrow 
has  its  own  characteristics. 

The  foot-ball  situation  at  Eton  is  unique.  At 
this  school  the  playing  of  foot-ball  is  compulsory. 
Of  the  two  games  played  there  the  most  popular  in 
point  of  the  number  of  students  who  play  it  is  the 
'^  Field  "  game,  from  which  fact  it  has  been  claimed 
that  it  is  the  principal  game  of  the  two;  whereas 
the  fact  is  that  only  the  collegers  or  King's  schol- 
ars, those  on  the  foundation,  are  allowed  to  play 
the  ' '  wall ' '  through  the  whole  course.  The  Op- 
pidans, or  pay  scholars,  who  outnumber  the 
collegers  by  over  nine  hundred  against  seventy,  are 
only  allowed  to  play  that  form  of  the  game  during 
the  last  part  of  the  school  course,  after  they  have, 
as  it  were,  graduated  from  the  *'  Field  "  game.  In 
Mr.  Marshall's  exhaustive  foot-ball  treatise  he 
claims  that  the  Eton  ''  Field  "  game  is  the  best  yet 
invented  in  many  ways. 


204      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

The  more  interesting  and  unique  "Wall"  game 
is  possibly  a  creature  of  circumstances,  because  the 
long  brick  wall  against  which  it  is  played  was  ready 
at  hand.  A  virtue  had  to  be  made  of  a  necessity. 
But  it  is  claimed  that  the  game  was  originally 
played  indoors  of  winter  evenings  in  the  long  pas- 
sages by  students  in  slippers,  from  which  it  was 
transferred  to  the  wall  as  a  makeshift.  The  long 
brick  wall  forms  one  side  of  the  foot-ball  play- 
ground, and  a  parallel  mark  or  line  about  six  yards 
from  it,  the  other. 

The  great  "Wall"  contest  of  the  year  is  the 
match  on  St.  Andrew's  day  between  the  Oppidan 
and  Colleger  teams.  The  records  of  this  yearly 
match  go  back  to  1845.  ^^^  sight  of  this  yearly 
game  is  very  characteristic.  The  dense  line  of 
spectators,  at  least  a  thousand  strong,  are  without 
the  rope  on  one  side  only  of  the  ground,  the  side 
opposite  the  wall,  and  without  the  limits  of  the 
picture.  Fig.  24.  The  wall  itself  holds  some  vis- 
itors, former  players  probably,  and  a  few  students. 
The  crowd  includes  the  smallest  boy  in  the  school 
and  the  headmaster,  or  possibly  the  provost  him- 
self. 

The  game  is  spoken  of  by  some  as  complicated. 
Others  claim  that  it  is  simplicity  itself,  those  who 
understand  it,  of  course.  Though  it  may  be  sim- 
ple, and  the  pure  essence  of  foot-ball,  unadulterated 
and  unadorned  by  any  of  the  later  additions  which 


FOOT-BALL.  205 

have  been  added  to  it  elsewhere,  the  "Wall  "  game 
does  require  a  long  apprenticeship  to  play  it  well. 
But  this  apprenticeship  is  fully  supplied  at  a  school 
which  fosters  athleticism  to  such  an  extent  that  it 
has  time  and  again  been  roundly  abused  for  its 
efforts  in  physical  culture,  which  it  has  been 
claimed  are  excessive. 


Golf, 

Lawn-tennis, 

etc. 


XL 

Golf,  IvAwn  Tennis,  Lacrosse,  Polo  and  Kin- 
dred Sports. 

Golf  is  an  ancient  Scottish  game,  ancient  enough 
to  have  shared  the  royal  edicts  of  excommunication 
issued  against  foot-ball.  It  has  won  its  way  to 
popularity  on  its  merits.  The  English  game  of 
cricket  has  made  little  headway  in  Scotland.  The 
Scottish  game,  however,  has  now  overrun  England. 
In  America,  we  as  yet  know  but  little  of  it,  more's 
the  pity,  for  we  thereby  lose  much  innocent, 
healthful  and  inexpensive  recreation.  The  game 
is  so  simple  that  it  is  a  wonder  how  it  manages  to 
develop  so  much  enthusiasm  and  fascination.  It  is 
very  seldom  that  a  person  who  has  commenced  the 
study  of  this  fascinating  pursuit  tires  of  it,  or  fails 
to  follow  it. 

Golf  is  not  so  slow  a  game  as  cricket  nor  so  fast 
as  base-ball.  It  can  be  played  from  the  cradle  to 
the  grave,  and  from  year's  end  to  year's  end. 
Weather  need  not  interfere  with  it.  On  snow,  on 
mud,  on  dry  sand  it  is  equally  practicable  if  the 
player  so  desires. 

The  English  cricketer  sneeringly  says  of  golf 
that  it  is  a  very  good  game  in  its  way  and  that  he 

14  (209) 


210      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

may  take  to  it  in  his  old  age  when  he  can  no  longer 
stoop  to  stop  a  cricket  ball.  The  Scotchman  in 
return  says  of  cricket  that  it  is  a  very  good  game 
for  boys.  The  fact  remains  that  while  young  men 
and  maidens  may  enjoy  it,  it  is  a  game  that  an  old 
man  can  likewise  fully  relish  at  a  time  when  cricket 
or  other  games  become  a  toil — the  time  when  the 
man  realizes  in  relation  to  cricket  fielding  that  the 
further  the  ground,  or  the  harder  to  reach  it  by 
stooping,  the  nearer  the  grave. 

The  game  offers  advantages  to  men  with  limited 
time  for  recreation,  and  it  is  a  game  in  which  a 
man  can  always  be  at  work,  always  active.  In 
other  ball  games  there  is  a  season  of  activity, 
followed  by  a  season  of  inaction.  In  golf,  the  exer- 
cise is  continuous,  and  not  so  violent  as  to  require 
frequent  rest.  Golf  is  a  walk,  a  constitutional,  with 
something  else  to  do  at  the  same  time,  and  with 
strong  exercise  for  the  arms  added  to  that  of  the  legs 
and  other  portions  of  the  body  exercised  in  walking. 

Though  the  grounds  required  are  large,  they  can 
accommodate  the  active  play  of  not  merely  eighteen 
or  twenty-two  players,  but  of  a  hundred,  and  many 
different  games  at  once  if  necessary.  You  can 
always  find  the  chance  to  play.  You  do  not  have 
to  be  on  a  particular  nine  or  eleven  in  order  to  get 
the  exercise. 

You  can  always  find  congenial  company  on  a 
golf  link.    Athletics  usually,  like  misfortune,  make 


212      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 


US  acquainted  with  strange  fellows.  In  golf,  kindred 
spirits  seem  to  flock  together  like  birds  of  a  feather. 
It  is  a  game  that  every  one  can  play.  It  is  for 
both  sexes.  It  is  not  beneath  the  notice  of  any 
one.  It  is  for  all  sorts  and  kinds  of  people — the 
strong  and  the  weak,  the  active  and  the  lame,  the 
aged  and  the  young,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the 


GOI.F.      IN   A    STONE-BUNKER. 

clergyman  and  the  infidel — for  man,  woman  and 
child.  It  is  the  most  sociable  game  known.  It  is 
a  game  of  competition,  not  of  antagonistic  struggle. 
A  crowning  merit  is  that  it  is  one  of  the  few  sports 
in  which  too  much  is  not  physically  injurious. 

Golf  has  been  described  as  consisting  of  putting 
little  balls  into  little  holes  with  instruments  very 


GOLF. 


213 


poorly  adapted  for  the  purpose.  This  would  seem 
to  be  the  case  to  a  person  who  has  never  played 
the  game.  A  player  knows  by  experience  that  the 
statement  is  a  fallacy. 


GOI.F.      IN   WHINS. 

In  golf  each  player  has  a  small,  hard  ball  of  his 
own,  which  he  strikes  with  a  stick,  one  of  several 
kinds,  each  suited  to  a  certain  kind  of  stroke  or  to 
certain  circumstances  under  which  the  stroke  has 
to  be  made.     These  strokes  are  made  while  the  ball 


The  illustrations  of  golf  are  from  the  Century  Magazine,  by  permission. 


214      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

is  quiescent,  with  the  intention  of  ultimately  put- 
ting it  into  a  small  hole.  This  he  wishes  to  do 
with  as  few  strokes  as  possible,  at  least  in  fewer 
than  his  antagonist.  If  this  were  done  on  a  smooth 
lawn  it  would  be  comparatively  dull  sport.  But  if 
the  links,  or  the  distances  between  the  holes,  are 
say  four  hundred  yards  each,  though  the  distance  is 
not  uniform,  on  a  circuitous  course  of  say  from 
three  to  five  miles  in  length,  and  over  irregular 
ground  containing  all  manner  of  obstacles  called 
"hazards,"  and  it  must  be  done  according  to 
certain  rules,  it  becomes  a  scientific  job  of  some 
magnitude. 

A  sufficient  space  to  play  the  game  can  always 
be  had,  when  no  other  offers,  on  the  beach  at  the 
seashore,  only  in  that  case  artificial  obstacles,  cor- 
responding to  rough  ground,  guUeys,  ruts,  stony 
ground,  etc. ,  have  to  be  manufactured.  An  unfre- 
quented country  road,  combined  with  certain  fields, 
with  all  the  cart-ruts,  unbroken  stone  stretches  and 
grassy  patches,  can  be  made  to  do,  though  on  many 
a  suburban  place  there  is  ample  room  without  inter- 
fering with  other  use  of  the  ground;  that  is,  of 
course,  for  an  informal  game.  With  sufficient  width 
the  course  need  not  be  so  long.  It  can  be  made  to 
return  either  in  the  form  of  a  circle  or  more  nearly 
in  the  same  line  as  the  outward  track.  If  neces- 
sary, the  distance  can  be  gained  with  half  the 
number  of  holes  by  making  the  circuit  twice. 


GOLF.  215 

The  game  not  only  entails  the  most  invigorating 
and  healthy  action  of  arms  and  legs,  with  outdoor 
work  of  course  (legs,  arms  and  brain  share  the 
work),  but  it  is  a  series  of  perpetual  changes. 
Problem  after  problem,  difficulty  after  difficulty, 
unexpectedly  arise,  which  the  player  is  called  upon 
to  surmount  by  cool  judgment  and  prompt  action. 
And  as  these  difficulties,  subject  as  they  are  to  the 
rules  of  chance,  may  never  occur  twice  under  sim- 
ilar circumstances,  there  is  ample  room  for  judg- 
ment. The  adoption  of  a  system  of  handicapping, 
as  the  game  is  usually  played,  makes  it  possible  for 
an  inferior  player  to  play  against  a  superior  and 
keep  up  interest.  In  that  way  the  best  player  is 
not  always  the  winner. 

The  exercise  of  golf  can  be  regulated  to  the 
player.  A  ' '  single ' '  game,  one  player  on  each 
side,  which  can  be  played  on  the  same  grounds 
with  many  other  "  singles,"  or  with  games  of  other 
numbers,  involves  twice  the  exercise  of  a  "  four- 
some," in  which  two  partners  alternate. 

There  is  one  element  of  danger  in  the  game, 
against  which  precaution  must  always  be  taken. 
The  ball  is  not  always  moved  along  the  ground, 
but  at  times  in  the  air.  Sometimes  ' '  lofter ' '  shots, 
or  drives  through  the  air,  are  made  of  two  hundred 
yards  or  over,  by  means  of  the  peculiar  shaped 
striking  sticks,  which  handle  the  ball  by  catching 
it  as  if  in  a  hollow  or  spoon,  the  effect  of  which  is 


216       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

very  much  the  same  as  that  gained  by  the  boy's 
pointed  stick  with  which  he  sends  a  green  apple, 
which  he  has  stuck  on  the  end,  soaring  through  the 
air,  after  whirling  it  around  his  head,  jerking  the 
apple  off  at  a  tangent  at  the  proper  point.  The 
balls  are  smaller  than  a  lawn  tennis  ball,  and  very 
hard.  When  they  go  through  the  air  with  the 
velocity  of  a  rifle-ball  it  may  chance  that  the  heads 
of  other  players  who  are  ahead  may  be  in  the  way. 
To  obviate  this  danger  as  far  as  possible  the  return 
course  should  not  be  close  to  the  outward  track, 
and  the  regular  rule  should  be  obeyed  which  pro- 
hibits a  player  from  striking  a  ball  which  has  just 
been  taken  out  of  a  hole,  until  the  player  ahead 
has  played  his  second  shot,  and  which  also  prohibits 
a  party  from  using  the  ''  green,"  or  region  about  a 
hole,  while  another  party  is  engaged  in  ' '  putting ' ' 
into  that  hole.  It  is  also  the  custom  to  call  out 
*'fore,"  which  is  the  recognized  danger  signal, 
when  about  to  make  a  long  shot;  and  in  regular 
clubs,  the  players  wear  red  coats  for  the  purpose 
of  making  themselves  as  conspicuous  as  possible 
at  a  distance,  as  an  additional  precaution  against 
accident. 

As  to  the  expense  of  the  game,  that  is  one  of  its 
recommendations.  An  average  set  of  tools  costs 
very  little,  from  $12.00  to  $15.00  perhaps,  ^and 
arrangements  for  the  use  of  a  ground  can  be 
made  inexpensively.     In  the  neighborhood  of  large 


GOLF. 


217 


cities,  the  latter  requireinent  can  be  easier  obtained 
by  organization  into  a  chib.      Abroad   the   main 


SPKCIMKNS  OF'  GOI^F  ClvUBS. 

I, Wooden  putter  ;  2,  Cleek  ;  3,  Mashy  ;  4,  Driver ;  5,  Short  spoon  ; 
6,  Niblick ;  7,  Iron  putter  ;  8,  I/Ong  spoon ;  9,  Sand-iron ;  10, 
Brassy. 

expense  lies  more  in  the  "caddie,"  who  is  a  very 
young  or  a  very  old  man  and  as  his  name  implies, 


218      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

Scotch  preferred.  The  caddie  carries  for  you  the 
bag  of  numerous  and  variously  shaped  clubs,  and 
hands  them  to  you  as  you  need  them,  being  in  other 
ways  a  help  or  hindrance  according  to  his  disposi- 
tion, for  he  is  often  as  loquacious  as  a  barber.  It 
is  bad  form,  impossible  in  club  play,  to  do  without 
a  caddie.  This  important  matter  has  been  well 
looked  after  in  America,  in  the  few  places  where 
the  sport  is  attempted.  Before  ground,  players,  or 
apparatus,  the  picturesque  caddie,  one  in  the 
employ  of  each  player,  must  be  secured.  Whether 
he  is  Irish,  African  or  German  he  is  called  ' '  caddie, ' ' 
whether  he  objects  to  the  name  or  not,  and  with- 
out him  the  game  cannot  go  on.  The  Scotch 
caddies  on  Scotch  and  English  public  golf  links 
rule  the  roost.  At  St.  Andrew's,  Scotland,  it 
requires  as  much  ingenuity  to  circumvent  a  cad- 
die's plans  and  desires  on  reaching  the  grounds 
as  to  get  through  a  crowd  of  city  hackmen  at  a 
railway  station.  The  art  of  playing  is  to  get  as 
much  enjoyment  out  of  the  game  as  the  caddie 
will  allow  you  to  have,  after  he  has  palmed  himself 
off  on  you  without  regard  to  whether  he  is  the 
caddie  you  want  or  not.  A  visitor  to  St.  Andrew's 
remarks : 

"Here  is  the  national  game  of  golf  played  to 
perfection.  Over  the  breezy  links  hundreds  of 
enthusiastic  players  may  be  daily  seen,  accompanied 
by  their  attendant  satellites — the  'caddies.'     It  is 


220      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

often  said  of  the  British  that  the  vagaries  of  the 
weather — which  is,  as  a  rule,  always  bad,  and  some- 
times worse — is  their  chief  topic  of  conversation. 
In  St.  Andrew's,  however,  the  weather  has  to  play 
second  fiddle,  for  golf  reigns  supreme.  To  the 
uninitiated,  the  constant  discussion  of  '  hazards, ' 
'  bunkers  '  and  '  putting  greens, '  cleeks  and  clubs, 
wonderful  'drives' — exemplifying  the  golfer's 
motto,  '  Far  but  Sure ' — and  the  racy  sayings  of 
caddies — is  only  a  continuous  stream  of  jargon,  but 
it  is  jargon  indulged  in  by  all,  gentle  and  simple. 
Old  men  and  women,  stately  bishops  and  merry 
schoolboys — no  one  is  too  old  nor  too  dignified  to 
join.  It  makes  stout  people  thin  and  thin  people 
stout;  and  if  one  cannot  enthuse  over  golf  he  is  to 
be  pitied.  And  how  picturesque  are  those  links  in 
winter,  when  the  students,  in  their  long,  bright 
scarlet  gowns,  flit  to  and  fro  across  the  dull  gray 
landscape  until  it  seems  to  glow  and  brighten  as 
we  watch. 

"  lyike  everything  belonging  to  the  town,  golf  is 
of  old.  In  1450  James  II.  passed  a  law  against  it 
as  'unprofitable  sport,'  but,  like  all  persecution,  it 
served  but  to  make  its  roots  the  stronger;  and,  as  we 
walk  homeward  by  the  'Scores'  and  the  'Butts,' 
reminiscences  of  the  days  when  golf  had  its  rival 
in  archery,  we  cannot  but  be  impressed,  as  we  gaze 
on  the  gray  towers  of  this  ancient  city — the  suc- 
cessive capital  of  Culdees,  Roman  Catholics  and 


GOLF.  221 

Presbyterians — that  from  it  and  elsewhere  in  broad 
Scotland  have  gone  forth  to  foreign  lands  brave 
and  patriotic  sons,  veritable  St.  Andrew's  brothers — 
givers,  doers,  helpers  in  all  good  works. ' ' 

Some  of  the  few  golf  clubs  and  grounds  in  this 
country  may  be  found  at  Newport,  at .  Islip  and 
Southampton,  ly.  I.,  and  at  Chevy  Chase,  near 
Washington,  D.  C.  The  one  at  Southampton  has 
a  club-house  ideally  placed  among  the  low  Shinne- 
cock  Hills,  with  the  blue  waters  of  Peconic  Bay 
on  one  hand,  Southampton  Bay  on  the  other,  and 
the  faint  roar  of  the  surf  coming  from  the  ocean 
beyond.  The  club-house,  a  Colonial-looking  build- 
ing, whose  shingled  sides  are  seasoned  by  the  wind 
and  rain  and  sun  of  two  seasons,  is  set  upon  the 
highest  of  the  low,  rolling  hills  betweeen  the  rail- 
road and  Peconic  Bay.  Several  acres  immediately 
surround  the  club-house.  Here  and  there  white 
or  red  flags  flutter  in  the  brisk  sea  breeze,  and 
painted  signs  on  slender  iron  posts  stand  sentinel 
near  mysterious  green  boxes.  ' '  On  a  recent  Satur- 
day morning,"  says  Harper's  Bazaar^  "if  some 
anxious  Sister  Anne  had  chanced  to  be  recon- 
noitring along  the  Shinnecock  road  at  about  the 
hour  of  10.30  a.  m.,  she  would  have  seen  a  mighty 
spinning  of  high  cart  wheels  and  a  great  glitter  of 
harness,  and  a  blaze  of  scarlet  coats  along  the  white 
road  to  the  club-house.  It  was  the  day  for  the 
regular  monthly  tournament,  and  the  events  of  the 


222      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

next  two  hours  would  liave  been  an  invaluable 
object-lesson  for  tbose  who  do  not  appreciate  golf. 
If  any  one  could  have  '  stood  tiptoe  upon  a  little  hill ' 
and  watched  the  swing  of  a  pair  of  firm  round  arms 
as  a  bright-eyed  girl  struck  off  from  the  first  '  tee, ' 
and  then  have  followed  two  good  players  over  the 
links,  across  which  came  the  breath  of  the  sea,  and 
around  which  lay  all  the  beauties  of  a  perfect  day 
in  a  charming  country — well,  if  any  one  could 
have  done  that  and  not  have  asked  the  price  of 
golf  sticks  and  how  to  get  into  the  club,  he  or  she 
would  better  make  haste  to  the  nearest  doctor,  for, 
verily,  'twould  be  a  poor  sign  of  a  healthy  mind  in 
a  healthy  body.  Golf  is  a  game  not  so  much  of 
strength  as  of  skill.  The  '  putting  little  balls  into 
little  holes'  is,  so  far  as  it  goes,  a  quite  accurate 
description  of  a  sport  which  has  enlisted  the  en- 
thusiasm of  the  brightest  men  and  women  in  Eng- 
land, and  is  fast  making  proselytes  of  the  same 
classes  in  America.  The  club  at  Southampton  is 
an  excellent  model  both  in  its  person7iel  and  in  the 
facilities  for  playing  with  which  it  is  provided. 
There  are  on  its  grounds  two  sets  of  links,  one  for 
men  and  one  for  women.  The  men's  links  com- 
prise eleven  holes,  and  are  two  and  a  half  miles  in 
length,  at  the  same  time  covering  much  more  diffi- 
cult ground  than  the  women's  links,  which  com- 
prise nine  holes  and  are  only  a  mile  and  a  half  in 
length.'' 


LAWN  TENNIS.  223 

lyAWN   TknNIS. 

There  is  one  phrase  which  the  textbooks  always 
apply  to  lawn  tennis:  "There  is  no  sport  existing 
more  calculated  to  develop  the  muscles."  But  we 
must  remember  that  this  phrase  or  its  equivalent  is 
found  at  the  beginning  of  every  book  or  treatise  on 
every  other  sport  as  well.  The  only  difference  in 
this  case  is  that  lawn  tennis  does  develop  the  mus- 
cles. If,  beside,  we  say  that  it  affords  exercise  to 
a  busy  man  in  a  short  space  of  time,  no  one  will 
question  the  statement.  Among  its  advantages  as 
an  exercise  is  the  fact  that  it  is  not  beyond  the 
limits  of  a  moderate  purse  or  ordinary  facilities. 
Unlike  its  namesake,  Tennis  proper,  or  Court  Ten- 
nis, as  it  is  now  distinguished,  no  elaborate  struc- 
ture is  necessary.  A  lawn-tennis  ground  may  be 
had  and  kept  in  order  without  much  outlay,  and  a 
racket  and  balls  last  well.  The  courts  are  small, 
not  too  much  for  a  man  to  care  for  himself,  and 
they  can  be  extemporized  on  almost  any  small  lot 
which  may  happen  to  be  near  one's  own  front  door. 
When  one  gets  to  the  age  when  it  does  not  seem  to 
pay  to  take  a  train  for  the  cricket  field,  put  on  flan- 
nels, play,  take  a  shower-bath,  and  so  home  again, 
one  looks  favorably  on  lawn  tennis.  In  addition 
to  being  of  value  to  busy  men  it  has  been  a  veri- 
table boon  to  girls  needing  exercise. 

That  it  is  good  exercise  may  be  gathered  from 
the  statement  that  no  man  can  play  it  for  more 


224      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

than  two  hours  without  excessive  fatigue,  but  as  an 
exercise  it  can  be  limited  at  pleasure  and  made 
invigorating. 

The  game  is  attractive  in  its  simplicity.  The 
attraction  can  be  increased  by  the  addition  of 
toiirnament  playing. 

No  prettier  sight  can  be  found  than  a  well  kept 
lawn  on  which  are  the  figures  of  the  tennis  players, 
the  gentlemen  in  their  comfortable  flannels  and  the 
ladies  looking  natural  and  graceful  in  their  pretty 
light  dresses,  while  in  the  background  may  be  a 
group  of  seniors  and  those  who  are  resting  from 
the  labors  of  former  games.  The  game,  indeed, 
wears  an  air  of  domesticity  which  is  altogether 
lacking  in  other  sports,  which  makes  it  an  attrac- 
tive game  for  both  sexes;  to  the  men  because  in  it 
they  can  meet  women  on  at  least  a  plane  of  athletic 
equality  during  the  pastime. 

In  England  it  is  the  exception  to  find  any  man 
who  is  physically  able  to  take  part  in  sports,  unable 
to  play  an  ordinary  game  of  lawn  tennis.  This 
would  seem  to  infer  that  the  game  need  not  take  up 
much  time  or  the  men  would  not  have  been  able  to 
have  thus  adopted  it.  This  is  the  great  strong  point 
in  favor  of  the  game.  Most  men  can  find  a  half- 
hour  for  recreation,  which  is  sufficient  for  a  *'set," 
particularly  if  they  can  have  the  facilities  handy. 

As  a  game  for  women  who  have  even  yet  a 
smaller   field  from  which  to   select  their   athletic 


LAWN  TENNIS.  225 

Sport  than  men,  they  may  adopt  this  one  without 
being  accused  of  rompishness  or  being  subjected  to 
ill-natured  criticism.  A  woman  may  at  least  feel 
sure  that  she  is  "looking  well  "  while  playing  it, 
though  she  enters  the  game  against  man  handi- 
capped with  too  much  dress  and  too  little  strength. 
This  latter  remark  refers  mostly  to  American 
women.  The  English  woman,  who  is  physically 
superior  on  account  of  more  exercise,  can  play 
lawn  tennis  better  than  the  American  woman, 
because  she  is  stronger  and  more  enduring. 

Women  of  all  kinds,  however,  can  play  lawn 
tennis  because  it  can  be  played  violently  or  gently, 
entirely  at  her  option.  Though  it  is  a  game  for 
ladies,  it  is  not  a  ''  ladies'  game  "  in  the  sense  that 
it  is  for  weak  and  puny  players  only.  If  played 
too  violently  it  becomes  a  serious  strain  on  the 
muscles  and  produces  as  serious  an  effect  upon  the 
heart  and  lungs  as  any  of  the  most  exacting  ath- 
letic sports.  This  opinion  will  be  confirmed  by 
anyone  who  has  tried  it,  who  is  also  a  base-ball, 
foot-ball  or  lacrosse  player.  On  this  account 
ladies  should  play  in  tournaments  with  care.  A 
man  when  playing  is  anxious  to  win  and  will 
exert  himself  greatly  to  that  end,  but  a  woman 
plays  a  lawn  tennis  tournament  with  the  fixed  idea 
that  she  must  and  shall  win.  To  prevent  a  defeat, 
she  often  causes  the  game  to  become  harmful 
excess  rather  than  beneficial  exercise. 

15 


226      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

The  wrist  fills  an  important  place  in  the  playing 
of  the  game.  It  often  happens  that  women  have 
more  power  in  the  wrist  than  the  average  man. 
The  amount  of  this  wrist  power  should  be  care- 
fully considered  in  selecting  a  racket  of  the  right 
weight.  There  is  also  danger  of  women,  who 
usually  have  weaker  ankles  than  men,  slipping  on 
a  smooth-turfed  court  and  spraining  ankle  or  knee. 
It  has  been  found  that  the  rubber  sole  will  not 
always  prevent  slipping. 

The  use  of  the  small  iron  sole-pegs  used  by  men 
is  as  advantageous  to  women,  particularly  as  they 
are  under  the  extra  disadvantage  of  having  skirts 
dangling  about  their  feet,  which  often  prevent  a 
rapid  movement  to  avert  a  disaster.  These  pegs 
may  prevent  serious  accident  and  really  do  no  more 
damage  to  the  turf  than  an  ordinary  rubber  sole. 

In  the  playing  of  this  game  by  women  the  use 
of  a  suitably  loose  dress,  giving  plenty  of  room  for 
the  action  of  the  heart  and  lungs  is  most  impor- 
tant. This  matter  will  be  considered  more  at  length 
in  the  chapter  on  ' '  Women  in  Athletics. ' ' 

A  long  skirt  also  seriously  interferes  with  rapid 
movement  from  one  part  of  the  court  to  the  other, 
which  is  often  necessary  for  a  good  play,  and  it 
often  interferes  with  the  use  of  the  racket  in  certain 
strokes.  These  disadvantages  must  be  reduced  to 
a  minimum  to  thoroughly  enjoy  the  game.  One 
way  to  do  this  is  for  a  woman  to  become  as  expert 


LAWN  TENNIS.  227 

at  *' volleying"  as  at  "rallying,"  which  will  thus 
give  less  chance  for  the  skirt  to  interfere  with  or 
entangle  the  racket.  The  ' '  volley  ' '  requires  more 
strength  in  one  effort  but  less  in  total  amount  than 
an  exhausting  ' '  rally. ' ' 

It  has  been  said  of  lawn  tennis  with  some  truth, 
that  it  develops  one  side  of  the  body  more  than  the 
other,  whichever  side  is  played  with  most.  Fash- 
ionable dressmakers  have  said  that  since  the  game 
became  a  craze,  it  has  been  found  necessary  always 
to  measure  both  of  the  arms  and  shoulders  of  the 
most  ardent  lawn-tennis-playing  customers.  As 
much  difference  as  from  three  to  four  inches  has 
been  found  in  the  deltoid  and  biceps  measurements 
of  the  two  arms.  Many  lady  tennis  players  have 
found  that  since  taking  up  tennis  it  is  impossible 
to  put  on  the  right  hand  the  mate  of  the  glove  that 
snugly  fits  the  left. 

This  defect  in  the  game  could  easily  be  remedied 
by  care  on  the  part  of  the  player.  He  should 
practice  not  to  become  a  right  or  left-hand  player 
only. 

Ivawn  tennis  may  and  has  been  played  in  cities 
in  winter  in  halls,  which  may  be  had  for  a  mere 
trifle  for  such  use  in  day  time,  they  usually  being 
occupied  only  in  the  evening.  It  has  encroached 
at  times  upon  armories  and  such  public  buildings. 
When  played  indoors  it  does  somewhat,  and  can  be 
made  to  approach  the  older  game  of  tennis.     Those 


228      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

in  search  of  novelties  would  do  well  to  bear  this  in 
mind.  It  is  not  every  one  who  can  afford  to  build 
or  even  get  the  use  of  a  regular  tennis  court. 

In  connection  with  this  use  of  armories  and  halls, 
it  may  be  said  that  lawn  tennis  has  been  called  the 
' '  cuckoo ' '  of  games  on  account  of  the  way  in 
which  it  thus  seeks  its  nest,  continually  hanging 
onto  or  appropriating  the  home  of  some  cricket, 
athletic  or  other  club. 

A  peculiarity  of  lawn  tennis  is  the  fact  that  it  is 
self-contained,  not  co-operative.  Each  player  must 
do  the  work  for  himself.  It  teaches  team  work,  but 
not  so  much  as  foot-ball,  nor  even  as  croquet.  Pos- 
sibly one  reason  why  this  latter  game  was  so  popular 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  a  very  "  stick  "  of  a  player 
could  have  a  partner  who  might  be  a  good  player, 
some  devoted  lover  or  "spoon,"  perhaps,  who  by 
his  devotion  might  bring  the  poor  player  out 
triumphant  at  the  end  of  a  game,  who  then  pro- 
nounced it  a  splendid  game  "  and  she  just  loved 
it."  Though  not  very  co-operative,  lawn  tennis  is 
a  "game"  however,  and  a  match  game  at  that,  all 
the  time,  with  consequent  continuous  interest  such 
as  does  not  come  with  gymnasium  work. 

Lawn  tennis  is  as  interesting,  or  more  so,  than 
the  older  sport,  the  ancient  royal  game  of  tennis, 
and  that  was  once  the  rage  to  a  far  greater  extent 
than  lawn  tennis  has  ever  yet  become.  Henry  V. , 
of  England,  was  so  fond  of  the  older  sport  that  the 


230      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

Dauphin  of  France  once  sent  him  in  sport  a  ton  of 
tennis  balls.  As  a  survival  of  this  popularity, 
Queen  Victoria's  household  still  retains  a  Master 
of  the  Tennis  Court,  which  position  is  now  mostly 
a  sinecure. 

It  would  seem  that  the  future  of  lawn  tennis  is 
certain.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  has  secured  a 
permanent  hold.  It  may,  however,  be  one  of  those 
fashionable  pursuits  which  will  enjoy  popularity 
for  a  time  and  then  become  only  a  remembrance. 
Croquet  once  had  its  thousands  of  players,  and  its 
decay  came  not  so  much  from  its  inherent  disad- 
vantages as  from  having  gone  out  of  fashion, 
though  that  was  not  sufficiently  active  to  be  called 
an  athletic  game.  As  a  medium  of  exercise  it  was 
nil.  Nor  did  it  compare  with  lawn  tennis  as  a 
means  of  amusement.  But  the  more  active  lawn 
tennis,  even  as  an  athletic  sport,  has  an  athletic 
world  to  deal  with  which  is  fickle,  particularly  that 
portion  of  the  athletic  world  composed  of  women, 
who  observe  and  set  fashion  in  other  things.  This 
world  calls  for  novelty.  If  the  ladies  know  when 
they  are  well  off  in  having  such  a  game,  which 
men  and  women  can  enjoy  alike,  they  will  foster  it 
all  they  can. 

LACROSSE. 

A  game  which  may  be  earnestly  recommended  to 
the   unattached   athlete,    though    requiring  more 


232      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE, 

ground  than  is  usually  to  be  had  in  city  limits,  is 
the  game  of  lacrosse.  It  is  a  very  excellent  game, 
and  it  is  the  one  sport  of  American  origin.  It 
should  therefore  be  adopted  from  purely  patriotic 
motives,  though  we  do  not  take  to  the  poor  Indian, 
its  originator,  for  many  of  our  social  customs. 

In  the  Indian  Baggataway  [Fig.  25],  the  ancestor 
of  ''lacrosse"  (from  the  Canadian  French  word 
meaning  bat,  the  instrument  with  which  the  game 
was  played),  from  eight  hundred  to  a  thousand 
players  would  sometimes  take  part.  In  the  early 
games  it  was  necessary  to  score  a  hundred  goals  in 
one  day.  The  preparations  for  the  game  sometimes 
took  months  to  complete.  In  Fig.  26  may  be  seen 
the  final  preparations  of  the  night  previous,  which 
included  jumping,  howling,  dancing,  and  praying 
for  victory.  The  medicine  men,  on  the  left,  were 
the  masters  of  ceremony  and  the  referees  and  um- 
pires of  the  game.  The  squaws,  who  may  be  seen 
drawn  up  in  long  rival  lines,  are  on  the  sides  of 
their  brothers,  fathers,  husbands,  or  sweethearts. 
They  sang  and  encouraged  their  favorites  in  various 
ways.  Bets  were  made  and  stakeholders  appointed 
who,  as  may  be  seen,  stood  guard  over  the  stakes, 
comprising  horses,  dogs,  utensils,  blankets,  knives, 
and  the  like. 

The  squaws  were  not  allowed  to  play  the  game, 
which  in  noise,  skill,  and  casualties  resembled  more 
a  genuine  battle;  but  for  the  amusement  of  their 


m 

mm 

m 


234      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

lords  they  were  allowed  to  play  a  farcical  kind  of 
lacrosse  [Fig.  27],  using  straight  sticks  without  a 
net,  and  two  balls  fastened  together  with  a  short 
string.     The  Baggataway  outline  illustrations  are 


A  CHOCTAW  PI.AYER,  USING  TWO  I.ACROSSK 
STICKS  SIMUI<TANEOUSI.Y,  THE  BAIvL  BEING 
CAUGHT  BETWEEN  THE  NETS. 

from  Catlin's  North  American  Indians^  a  book  now 
out  of  print. 

Modern  lacrosse  probably  ranks  next  to  foot-ball 
as  an  athletic  exercise.  I^ike  foot-ball  it  was  a 
game  originally  played  between  large  numbers  of 


LACROSSE. 


235 


contestants,  and  is  now  reduced  to  the  same  limita- 
tion of  numbers  as  foot-ball.  lyike  foot-ball,  though 
in  a  less  degree,  it  demands  a  willingness  to  take 


A   SIOUX   PtAYER,    PlyAYING   WITH  A    vSINGI^E 
STICK. 

bodily  risks,  and  co-operation  between  the  persons 
engaged  in  it.  It  has  the  advantage  over  foot-ball 
in  that  it  does  not   necessarily  involve  the   rude 


236       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

personal  bodily  contact  between  the  contestants. 
If  they  touch  each  other  in  the  strife  it  is  with  the 
instrument  by  which  the  ball  is  thrown  toward  the 
goal.  In  being  free  from  many  dangerous  elements 
of  foot-ball,  it  is  in  that  respect  the  more  advanta- 
geous of  the  two,  but  this  superiority  is  in  danger 
of  being  lost  by  modern  methods  of  handling  the 
stick.  That  is  a  matter  which  should  be  attended 
to  by  those  interested. 

In  many  points  lacrosse  resembles  the  Association 
game  of  foot-ball.  A  feature  of  the  play  is  passing 
the  ball  from  friend  to  friend.  Like  in  the  Associ- 
ation game,  the  ball  must  not  be  handled  except  by 
the  goal-keeper. 

It  is  a  quicker  game  than  foot-ball,  because  when 
the  ball  is  once  started  there  are  practically  no 
bounds.  There  is  very  little  delay  by  what  is  rather 
an  objection  to  the  Association  game,  the  delay 
caused  by  the  ball  continually  going  out  of  bounds. 

Any  one  may  learn  the  game  simply  by  seeing  it 
once  played.  It  is  a  game  that  depends  almost 
wholly  on  good  condition.  There  is  no  enjoyment 
in  it  to  any  one  who  is  not  a  quick  and  sta3'ing 
runner.  Any  one  who  plays  it  should  be  sound  in 
wind  and  limb,  and,  above  all,  in  constitution.  It 
can  be  played  the  year  round  in  any  field  which  is 
large  enough,  and  its  implements  are  inexpensive. 
The  best  costume  for  a  player  is  anything  which  is 
light  and  suitable  for  running. 


238       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

As  a  means  of  general  physical  development, 
lacrosse  stands  high.  In  this  game  the  muscles  of 
the  arms,  chest,  back,  abdomen  and  legs  are  called 
upon,  and  the  heart  and  lungs  are  often  kept  in  a 
state  of  prolonged  activity. 

The  amateur  lacrosse  player  [Fig.  28]  is  an 
example  to  show  how  useful  the  game  is  for  physi- 
cal culture.  The  gentleman  thus  shown  has  a  very 
confining  shop  business,  which  in  itself  gives  no 
outdoor  exercise  whatever. 


OTHER  SIMILAR  SPORTS. 

Of  the  many  other  kindred  forms  of  ball  games, 
little  need  be  said  in  this  connection  other  than  to 
indicate  them.  They  include  tennis  proper  (the 
old  form  now  called  court  tennis),  and  rackets,  both 
of  which  have  clubs  devoted  to  them  which  own 
courts  in  large  cities  here  and  abroad.  The  game 
of  Fives  is  a  game  much  played  in  certain  public 
schools  in  England,  and  there  is  a  popular  game  of 
"Field-ball"  more  used  by  other  English  boys. 
A  game  of  Hand-ball,  played  indoors,  finds  many 
votaries  in  athletic  club-houses,  where  regular 
courts  are  provided  or  extemporized,  and  where  the 
members  find  it  an  excellent  recreation  after  other 
exercise,  while  in  exercising  costume.  It  is  now 
used  as  a  part  of  a  system  of  training,  and  is  even 
practiced  by  pugilists.     The  only  instruments  used 


FIG.    28.— AN   AMATEUR  I.ACROSSE  PI.AYKR, 


POLO.  239 

are  a  small  ball  and  the  open  hand.  This  game  is 
virtually  the  same  as  the  game  of  Fives  as  played 
in  the  Eton  Fives'  courts. 

The  game  of  Polo,  necessarily  confined  to  those 
who  are  so  lucky  as  to  be  able  to  secure  the  neces- 
sary animals  to  mount,  is  a  game  that,  with  good 
cause,  is  increasing  in  popularity.  Polo  is  supposed 
to  be  the  ''  Chugar "  of  the  Persians,  and  perhaps 
of  the  Tartars,  also,  and,  like  lacrosse  in  America, 
is  supposed  to  be  prehistoric.  It  seems  to  have 
come  to  us  by  way  of  India,  and  by  means  of  the 
British  army.  It  is  much  played  in  that  country. 
Returning  regiments  who  played  it  there  brought 
it  home  with  them.  Our  own  army  people  at 
Western  stations  are  beginning  to  adopt  it.  They 
have  every  facility  handy  for  the  sport,  including 
the  ponies,  who  are  already  partly  broken  to  it  by 
the  requirements  of  herding.  In  the  West  these 
ponies  can  be  had  at  a  marvelously  low  price.  It 
would  be  a  very  poor  army  man  who  could  not  at 
least  club  with  another  and  keep  his  polo  pony. 

It  is  a  game  well  suited  to  the  militia.  If  sol- 
diers of  all  arms  can  be  made  on  the  foot-ball  field, 
cavalrymen  at  least  can  be  made  at  polo. 

That  the  game  is  fraught  with  more  or  less  dan- 
ger to  players  and  cruelty  to  the  ponies  is  a  very 
common  argument  advanced  against  it  by  its  detrac- 
tors. What  danger  there  is  is  usually  due  only  to 
the  use  of  improperly  trained  ponies. 


240        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

Polo  is  a  very  difficult  game.  Not  as  much 
strength  is  required  as  in  foot-ball  or  rowing,  but 
more  skill.  It  is  difficult  because,  after  knowing 
what  you  have  to  do  yourself,  your  pony  must  be 
of  the  same  mind  as  yourself,  and  he  must  be  made 
to  know  your  mind  quickly.  Great  quickness  is  a 
necessity  in  play,  as  in  every  severe  match  nine- 
tenths  of  all  the  plays  happen  in  the  fraction  of  a 
second. 

The  game  requires  expertness  both  in  play  and 
in  horsemanship.  One  who  is  not  a  very  expert 
horseman  may  not  hope  to  succeed  at  it.  Horse- 
manship counts  for  everything,  and  especially  the 
particular  kind  of  horsemanship  which  the  Western 
cowboys  are  expert  in,  and  which  is  the  kind  taught 
in  our  army;  horsemanship  which  enables  a  rider 
to  ride  without  artificial  aids  of  saddle  and  bridle, 
to  ride  all  kinds  of  steeds,  and  under  all  possible 
emergencies.  A  good  horseman  when  racing  for  a 
ball  will  nearly  always  gain  by  superior  horseman- 
ship alone.  As  on  the  turf,  a  first-class  rider  on  a  poor 
horse  will  win  against  a  poor  rider  on  a  better  horse. 

Polo  is  long-distance  billiards,  requiring  the  use 
of  more  legs  than  your  own,  on  the  earth  for  a 
table,  with  the  canopy  of  heaven  for  a  ceiling  in- 
stead of  the  low  ceiling  of  a  billiard  room,  health 
and  strength  giving  daylight  instead  of  gas-light, 
the  pure  air  of  heaven  instead  of  a  noxious  atmos- 
phere, and  an  exhilarating  exercise  instead  of  a 


242     ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

monotonous,  wearying  and  endless  walk  around  a 
table. 

In  the  "  Arabian  Nights  "  a  Greek  king  is  spoken 
of  who  lived  in  Persia.  His  physician,  Douban, 
the  wise  man,  prescribed  for  his  ailment — which 
was  probably  from  the  description  indigestion — the 
use  of  a  drug  which  was  put  into  the  hollow  handle 
of  a  mallet,  and  which  the  king  was  told  would 
only  do  good  when  his  hand  was  in  perspiration. 
The  king  was  told  to  ride  on  horseback,  go  to  the 
bowl  field  and  knock  the  ball  around  with  this  mal- 
let, or  bat,  until  his  hand  perspired.  This  was  the 
game  of  Polo.  The  benefit  was  not  in  the  drug, 
but  in  the  exercise. 

School-boys  and  others  in  this  country  used  to 
play  a  ball  game  with  a  knotted  stick  which  was 
called  "shinny."  The  stick  was  also  called  a 
"shinny."  This  game  was  properly  a  form  of 
hockey;  the  name  "  shinny  "  came  fiom  an  older 
game,  never  played  here,  and  a  custom  which  we 
never  observed.  In  the  older  game  the  players  had 
a  right  to  hit  a  rival  player  on  the  shins  with  the 
stick  for  a  bad  play.  In  that  form  the  game  was 
very  bad  sport.  Shinny  as  played  here  was  a  very 
free  and  easy,  go-as-you-please  game  for  any  number 
of  players,  but  it  used  to  give  great  sport.  The 
shins  were  sometimes  hit,  but  not  in  observing  the 
rules  of  the  game.  The  game  has  now  been  sys- 
tematized into  the  modern  game  of  "  Hockey,"  to 


HOCKEY. 


243 


which  strict  rules  apply,  and  to  play  which  many 
clubs  exist.     It  is  a  game  worth  considering. 

A  late  New  York  newspaper  paragraph  is  an 
instance  of  the  lamentable  ignorance  in  this  coun- 
try of  the  game  of  golf.  It  states  that  the  game  is 
at  present  the  fad  at  Newport,  but  will  not  survive 
the  season;  also,  that  the  game  is  a  half-brother  to 
"  shinny,  which  it  resembles  both  in  the  stick  used 
and  in  the  way  the  leg  is  hit  somewhere  between 
the  knee  and  ankle."  That  paragraph  had  better 
be  kept  out  of  Scotland. 


Rowing, 


XII. 
Rowing  and  Sculling. 

Technically,  rowing  is  the  pulling  of  one  long 
oar;  sculling,  of  two  shorter  ones  by  the  same 
person.  Rowing  may  be  done  in  barge  or  other 
boats,  or  in  racing  shells.  There  are  various  ways 
of  getting  exercise  out  of  rowing.  There  can  be 
rowing  more  for  pleasure  and  recreation,  or  only 
for  the  exercise.  For  pleasure  it  is  more  commonly 
known  as  boating.  For  purposes  of  exercise,  rowing, 
with  improved  appliances,  in  shell  or  heavier  boats, 
which  may  or  may  not  get  to  racing,  is  the  accepted 
form. 

There  was  a  time  when  such  rowing,  if  of  any 
amount,  was  always  sure  to  produce  some  physical 
defect,  particularly  round  shoulders  or  hollow  chest. 
But  since  the  introduction  of  more  correct  form,  as 
keeping  the  shoulders  square  and  back,  the  disten- 
sion of  the  chest,  the  use  of  other  exercises  in  con- 
nection with  rowing  and  as  a  training  therefor, 
and  particularly  since  the  introduction  of  the 
sliding  seat,  which  brought  an  entire  new  set  of 
muscles  into  exercise  and  produced  a  much  more 
all-around  development,  those  evils  exist  only  where 
there  is  faulty  rowing.    Fig.  29  shows  that  a  modern 

(247) 


us      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

oarsman  need  not  be  developed  in  one  direction  and 
deformed  in  another,  or  afflicted  with  the  old-fash- 
ioned rounded  back,  now  reserved  for  certain  cycle 
riders. 

It  is  the  back  that  takes  the  greatest  strain  in 
modern  rowing  with  sliding  seat.  If  the  friction  of 
the  seat  is  excessive,  a  double  duty  is  imposed  upon 
the  flexors  of  the  legs.  Before  the  days  of  sliding 
seats  the  work  was  mainly  in  the  arms.  Then 
came  the  sliding  of  the  body  on  an  immovable  seat, 
which  put  a  terrible  strain  on  the  legs  for  the 
recovery.  The  sliding  seat  was  an  American  inven- 
tion which  was  neglected  by  its  Yankee  inventors. 
Its  capabilities  are  first  perceived  and  exhibited  by 
our  English  cousins  after  seeing  it  here  experi- 
mentally. 

A  type  of  development  secured  by  modern 
rowing,  as  practiced  with  other  sports,  may  be  seen 
in  Figs.  22  and  23,  under  the  head  of  foot-ball,  the 
young  men  there  depicted  being  college  boating 
men  as  well  as  foot-ball  players,  which  has  helped 
to  round  out  their  development.  The  long  figure 
of  the  American,  Hanlon,  for  many  years  the 
champion  oarsman  of  the  world,  is  typical  of  a 
build  which  can  do  effective  work  in  that  line. 
As  a  long  stroke  is  desired,  a  long  body,  if  it  is 
sufficiently  broad  and  deep  to  give  the  attach- 
ments for  the  strong  rowing  muscles,  is  advan- 
tageous. 


ROWING  AND  SCULLING.  249 

There  is  nothing  so  important  to  the  oarsman  as 
good  lung  capacity.  Trainers  in  selecting  a  crew 
look  much  more  after  the  respiratory  capacity  than 
muscular  power.  Rowing  with  the  sliding  seat, 
contrary  to  usual  belief,  is  well  calculated  to  enlarge 
the  chest.  The  first  severe  exertions  in  rowing  are 
felt  as  embarrassment  to  the  action  of  the  heart 
and  lungs.  This  it  is  necessary  to  relieve  by  making 
the  chest  larger  and  by  increasing  its  mobility. 
This  can  be  done  by  means  of  gymnasium  work, 
by  light  dumb-bells,  chest-weights,  or  by  running 
exercises.  The  exercise  of  rowing  itself,  progressed 
in  slowly,  will  have  a  like  result.  The  evidence  is 
indisputable  that  those  who  row  with  sliding  seats 
gradually  acquire  an  increased  girth  of  chest.  The 
sliding  seat  brings  many  additional  muscles  into 
play,  and  there  is  an  increased  demand  for  oxygen 
which  necessarily  means  the  need  of  a  larger  chest 
capacity.  The  effort  of  nature,  with  the  aid  of  the 
muscles  used  either  in  natural  or  forced  respiration, 
is  to  gain  this  end.  Nearly  all  the  muscles  of  the 
chest,  abdomen  and  back,  help  in  violent  and  pro- 
longed respiration.  When  we  consider  that  during 
a  season  of  training  in  rowing,  these  accessory 
muscles  are  contracted  and  relaxed,  at  least  one 
thousand  times  a  day,  we  naturally  think  that  the 
muscles  so  exercised  should  show  some  result,  and 
the  chest  so  regularly  enlarged  should  show  some 
permanent  increase  in  cavity.     If  the  process  is 


250      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 


assisted  by  a  good  position  during  the  exercise,  as 
in  Fig.  31,  the  result  is  beneficial.  If  through  any 
bad  form,  as  in  Fig.  30,  the  process  is  hindered,  we 
not  only  get  no  beneficial  results,  or  no  apparent 
result  whatever,  but  we  do  great  harm  by  the 
exercise. 

A  rowing  man,  even  one  who  uses  a  sliding  seat, 
who  does  not  exercise  much  in  other  lines,  will 

ordinarily  have  his 
hips  and  thighs  de- 
veloped at  the  ex- 
pense of  his  calves. 
The  back  muscles 
will  be  stronger 
than  the  chest  mus- 
cles. His  back  arm 
will  exceed  in  de- 
velopment the  fore 
arm.  This  would 
seem  to  indicate  that 
the  other  exercises 
necessary  to  a  rowing  man  to  fully  develop  him 
and  to  increase  his  general  health  and  efficiency,  as 
well  as  to  add  to  his  symmetry,  would  be  such  as 
running  for  the  legs,  the  parallel  bars  for  the  chest, 
and  the  rings  and  ladder  for  the  arms.  The  noted 
Hanlon  was  not  an  all-round  man  in  athletics. 
He  could  not  do  an  ordinary  "dip"  on  the  parallel 
bars. 


FIG.  30. 
Over-reaching  (wrong).  The  shoulders  are 
not  braced  b  ick  by  the  muscles  behind 
the  blades,  and  are  not  supported  by  the 
arch  formed  by  the  collar-bone.  The 
pulling  is  on  the  back  muscles,  which 
give  as  a  spring.  The  shoulders  are 
rounding,  and  the  internal  parts  are 
thereby  compressed. 


ROWING  AND  SCULLING. 


251 


Rowing,  as  practiced  in  colleges  and  by  such  clubs 
as  work  in  the  same  groove,  requires  co-operation 
between  those  engaged  in  it.  A  man  must  learn  to 
bring  his  activity  into  adjustment  with  those  of  his 
mates.  It,  however,  does  not  combine  recreation 
for  the  mind.  The  rower  in  fast  crews  is  called 
upon  to  convert  his  body  into  a  machine  which 
moves  in  rhythmical  unity  with  the  bodies  of 
others.  A  foot-ball  player  has  to  keep  his  mind 
awake,  ready  for  in- 
stant and  varied  ac- 
tion; a  boating  man 
must  not.  He  must 
when  rowing  devote 
all  his  bodily  ener- 
gies in  a  perfectly 
even  manner  to  the 
work,  and  the  less 
he  thinks  while  he 
is  so  doing  the  bet- 
ter the  chance  of  success  as  a  racer. 

It  is  in  racing  that  the  greatest  evils  of  rowing 
as  an  exercise  lie,  for  one  thing  because  it  is  made 
obligatory  on  all  alike  to  use  the  same  exertion. 
The  exertion  should  be  proportioned  to  the  man. 
One  man,  particularly  an  amateur,  will  be  out  of 
breath  from  rowing  in  fifteen  minutes,  whereas  a 
man  who  follows  the  water  as  a  profession  can  keep 
up  the  same  exercise  a  whole  day  without  fatigue. 


FIG. 
Shoulders  braced. 


31- 

Correct  position. 


252      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

The  "spurt"  in  racing  is  particularly  to  be 
avoided  by  any  one  not  in  physical  condition  to 
stand  it.  The  strain  upon  the  heart  is  so  great  that 
a  permanently  enlarged  heart  may  be  the  result  of 
indiscretion.  In  the  English  Universities  the  man 
who  rows  in  the  University  boat,  a  position  he  can 
only  attain  after  having  graduated  from  all  the  sub- 
ordinate rowing  positions,  and  who  must  necessarily 
be  an  expert  and  used  to  the  work,  can  only  row  in 
the  University  race  or  prepare  for  it  after  he  has 
passed  a  special  medical  examination  for  that  ex- 
press purpose,  and  has  a  certificate  that  he  is  phys- 
ically fit  to  stand  the  strain  of  the  six  weeks'  train- 
ing and  the  twenty  minutes'  race,  which  is  all  the 
course  between  Putney  and  Mortlake  requires,  it 
being  a  trifle  over  four  miles. 

The  history  of  the  English  University  race, 
which  is  so  popular  as  to  have  required  a  special 
Act  of  Parliament  for  the  management  of  the  river 
on  race  days,  would  go  far  to  prove  that  the  science 
of  athletics  had  been  a  great  gainer  by  rowing,  even 
in  the  racing  form.  Contrary  to  all  usually  received 
notions  and  isolated  facts,  rowing  men  who  have 
taken  part  in  the  University  races  have  been  healthy 
and  long  lived.  They  have  nearly  uniformly  been 
men  of  high  scholastic  standing,  who  have  filled 
the  highest  positions  in  after  life,  which  they  were 
able  to  attain  largely  through  the  greater  bodily 
vigor  gained  in  the  sport. 


_   ROWING  AND \  SCULLING,  253 

One  beauty  of  the  sport  in  the  racing  form  among 
amateurs  is  its  great  freedom  from  the  evils  of  pro- 
fessionalism. The  oarsmen  in  racing  crews  have 
experienced  many  amenities  which  go  to  prove  that 
the  sport  is  the  opposite  of  debasing.  There  have 
been  numerous  instances  similar  to  those  of  the 
Irish  cricket  captain  who  gave  all  the  facilities  for 
his  defeat.  Races  between  college  crews  or  clubs 
of  gentlemen  are  really  rowed  for  honor  only.  The 
only  reward  in  the  English  national  event,  the  Uni- 
versity race,  is  that  one  University  Color  shall  be 
shown  above  the  other.  Such  races  are  trials  of 
pluck  as  well  as  strength.  One  noted  race  is  re- 
membered, when  a  crew  of  Oxford  men  was  one 
man  short  through  accident,  and  pulled  seven  men 
against  eight  from  Cambridge.  It  was  hard  luck 
for  the  latter,  for  if  they  were  defeated  by  seven 
men,  as  they  most  unexpectedly  were,  it  was  a  very 
bad  defeat,  with  much  disappointment;  while  if 
they  had  won  it  would  have  been  a  victory  over  a 
disabled  crew. 

Of  the  great  professional  oarsmen  who  have  met 
early  deaths,  which  instances  have  been  used  to 
testify  that  danger  lurks  in  the  exercise,  the  statis- 
tics show  that  their  untimely  end  came  from  other 
causes — their  manner  of  life,  from  bad  companion- 
ship, from  neglect  of  the  laws  of  health  in  other 
ways,  as  for  instance,  the  fault  already  noted  in 
other  directions,  a  sudden  cessation  from  training  or 


254       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

temperance,  and  giving  way  to  unbounded  excess 
after  the  necessity  for  the  training  was  over. 

It  was  said  a  few  years  ago  that  there  was  not 
in  England  a  trained  professional  athlete  in  any 
branch,  of  the  age  of  thirty-five,  who  had  been  ten 
years  at  his  calling,  who  was  not  disabled.  Select- 
ing the  pugilists  and  oarsmen  as  examples  and  to 
look  into  details,  it  was  found  that  of  these  Heenan 
was  injured  in  a  railway  accident,  Hyer  had  lived  a 
life  of  great  excess,  Morrissey  had  a  complication 
of  disorders  due  to  the  same  cause,  Walter  Brown 
tried  to  save  his  boat-house  from  fire,  and  from  the 
exposure  contracted  an  acute  disease  which  caused 
death,  and  Sullivan  and  Poole  were  shot.  lyike 
examples  could  be  found  in  other  branches. 

In  addition  to  these  facts  we  have  the  knowledge 
that  Captain  Gulston,  of  the  lyondon  Rowing  Club, 
was  the  leading  oar  at  forty-two  years  of  age,  also 
that  the  Ward  brothers  were  hale  and  hearty  men 
after  many  races.  Of  the  Oxford-Cambridge  crews 
in  twenty  years,  from  1849  ^^  1869,  there  was  a 
mortality  of  only  thirty  per  cent,  while  in  an 
outside  population  of  corresponding  ages  the  per- 
centage was  forty-six.  The  rate  of  the  oarsman 
was  much  below  that  of  population  generally,  and 
their  average  duration  of  life  was  much  beyond 
that  computed  by  the  life  insurance  companies. 

Among  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  of  Har- 
vard who   rowed  during   a  quarter  of  a   century 


ROWING  AND  SCULLING.  255 

against  the  crews  of  Yale,  from  1852  to  1876,  there 
were  only  seven  deaths  known  to  have  resulted  from 
disease.  Of  these,  one  was  from  nervous  trouble, 
which  rowing  would  not  increase,  but  tend  to  allay; 
one  was  from  Bright's  disease,  and  five  were  from 
consumption.  Some  of  the  latter  ailments  might 
have  been  given  an  unfavorable  tendency  by  the 
style  of  rowing  in  use  during  part  of  that  time, 
which  required  arm  work  with  rounded  backs  and 
doubled-up  chests.  It  was  ascertained,  however, 
that  in  four  of  these  six  cases  there  was  distinct 
hereditary  predisposition,  in  which  case  proper 
medical  supervision  would  have  prevented  any  part 
being  taken  in  such  severe  rowing.  In  the  remain- 
ing case  and  in  one  of  the  others,  the  habits  of  life 
had  been  very  irregular.  Even  with  pre-existent 
tendency  to  consumption,  a  moderate  exercise  in 
modern  rowing,  with  correct  form,  giving  exercise 
to  the  lungs,  would  have  had  a  beneficial  effect  on 
the  disease  tendencies. 

Rowing,  in  gentler  forms,  but  in  correct  style,  is 
getting  to  be  an  exercise  even  for  women,  to  the 
great  advantage  of  complexion  and  beauty  of  line  in 
form,  particularly  in  the  arm,  and  without  increas- 
ing the  size  of  the  hand. 

As  an  exercise  it  has  advantages  which  women 
do  not  always  obtain.  The  profuse  perspiration 
enables  the  system  to  free  itself  of  poisonous  matter. 
It  makes  the  torpid  liver  active.     No  boat-crew's 


256      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

captain  was  ever  bilious.  It  is  a  direct  remedy  for 
weak  backs,  the  standing  ailment  of  women,  for 
which  they  are  indebted  partly  to  inherent  causes 
and  partly  to  the  fact  that  the  muscles  of  the  back, 
which  are  always  supported  by  corsets  and  not  by 
the  use  of  muscle,  have  not  been  strengthened  by 
use.  The  exercise  is  beneficial  to  the  muscles  of 
the  diaphragm,  and  can  be  made  a  cure  for  weak 
stomach  if  the  beginner  rests  often  and  does  not 
work  to  the  point  of  fatigue. 

In  rowing  for  beneficial  exercise,  care  should  be 
taken  not  only  to  enlarge  the  chest,  bringing  the 
shoulders  well  back,  but  to  keep  the  shoulders  even. 
The  tendency  is  to  raise  one  shoulder  above  the 
other  when  rowing  with  one  oar.  This  may  be 
obviated  by  rowing  on  different  sides  of  the  boat  at 
times.  The  beginner,  pulling  an  unscientific  oar, 
should  at  every  stroke  brace  the  chest  well  forward 
at  the  last  part  of  the  stroke  and  see  that  the 
shoulders  are  even.  A  special  effort  should  be 
made  to  do  this  each  time.  It  will  not  be  con- 
ducive to  speed  while  learning,  as  the  knowledge  is 
gained  at  a  loss  of  time  in  each  stroke,  but  it  robs 
the  sport  of  its  worst  feature  for  beginners.  Scull- 
ing, or  rowing  evenly  witn  two  sculls  or  small 
spoon  oars,  particularly  with  the  sliding  seat,  has 
some  advantages  that  rowing  has  not. 

Outside  of  colleges,  facilities  exist  in  many  places, 
by  means  of  which  the  busy  man  may  gain  the 


258      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

exercise  if  lie  chooses.  There  are  boating  chibs  in 
many  cities,  whose  headquarters  can  be  reached 
without  undue  loss  of  time.  There  is  often  a  choice 
of  clubs.  One  can  choose  between  clubs  whose 
membership  includes  only  business  men  intent  on 
moderate  exercise  and  pleasure  only,  or  men  whose 
preference  is  for  having  a  fast  time  and  for  spending 
plenty  of  money,  or  men  who  wish  to  excel  in 
racing,  or  young  men  whose  expenditures  must  suit 
their  purses.  The  facilities  could  with  a  little  effort 
be  had  in  many  cases  where  they  do  not  now  exist. 
Rowing  water  could  be  found  and  made  use  of  in 
many  places  seemingly  unsuitable.  To  look  at  the 
Thames  a  short  distance  above  lyondon,  at  the  point 
where  the  greatest  rowing  contests  of  the  world 
take  place,  an  American  in  particular,  who  is  used 
to  great  rivers,  wonders  how  a  boat  can  even  be 
rowed  on  it,  to  say  nothing  of  racing.  The  adop- 
tion of  the  bumping  system  instead  of  racing  side 
by  side,  has,  by  the  ingenuity  of  the  lovers  of  the 
sport,  made  that  river  ample  for  all  requirements 
[see  Figs.  32  and  33].  A  similar  policy  could  be 
adopted  where  the  surroundings  are  not  so  favor- 
able here.  We  have  seen  at  least  one  college  do 
good  things  with  no  facilities  at  hand  but  a  canal. 
As  another  example,  a  flourishing  boat  club  exists 
at  a  small  inland  town  situated  on  a  river  which 
is  broad  but  so  shallow  that  a  stroke  below  the 
blade  will  often  touch  bottom.     Likewise  at  one 


ROWING  AND  SCULLING.  259 

noted  New  England  school,  which  fits  boys  for 
Harvard,  the  students  are  trained  for  the  Harvard 
boat  on  a  very  puddle  of  an  oblong  pond,  but  on 
which  all  the  best  rowing  appliances  exist. 

In  places  where  good  water  exists,  but  no  facili- 
ties for  rowing,  it  would  take  very  little  exertion 
and  very  little  money  for  a  few  young  men  to  band 
together  and  form  an  informal  club.  There  are  so 
many  beautiful  streams  in  this  country  which  are 
large,  smooth,  and  suitable  for  crew  rowing  in  every 
way,  which  have  never  seen  a  shadow  of  the  sport. 
There  are  many  small  towns  situated  on  such 
streams,  which  always  have  the  advantage  that  any 
one  living  in  them  has  but  a  short  distance  to  go  to 
reach  any  point.  No  time  would  be  lost  in  such 
cases  in  going  to  or  from  the  boating  grounds.  A 
second-hand  heavy  boat,  out-rigger  or  otherwise,  can 
always  be  found  at  low  cost  as  a  beginning,  after 
which  a  second-hand  but  good  shell,  with  many  of 
the  latest  improvements,  will  follow,  though  a  new 
one  is  not  too  costly.  Such  a  club  will  foster  the 
sport,  even  outside  of  club  rowing,  by  furnishing  a 
place  for  the  cheap  storage  of  private  boats,  the 
number  of  which  will  then  increase,  and  they  will 
likely  be  of  good  quality.  It  is  not  only  in  a  crew 
that  the  busy  man  may  look  for  exercise.  That 
can  as  readily  be  gained  with  his  family  in  a  light 
scull  boat,  which  should,  however,  be  of  improved 
pattern,  particularly  with  sliding  seat  and  modern 


260      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

oars.  For  health  keep  up  good  form  if  only  out 
for  enjoyment. 

Many  a  business  man  lives  in  a  suburban  or 
small  town  home,  exactly  where  he  could  practice 
rowing  in  the  very  best  form  without  the  loss  of  a 
moment,  and  for  as  long  or  short  a  time  as  he  needs 
it.  He  does  not  take  to  it  because  there  exists  on 
the  body  of  water  near  him  nothing  perhaps  but  a 
flat-bottomed,  ugly,  home-made  boat,  which  is  a 
terror  to  sit  in  and  a  hardship  to  pull.  The  sport 
has  no  inducements  to  him  or  anybody  else.  But 
let  him  get  a  modern  beauty,  which  can  now  be  had 
in  many  forms  at  a  very  moderate  outlay,  and  he 
will  wonder  where  his  eyes  have  been  that  he  did 
not  see  the  possible  advantages  before.  Such  a 
man  simply  wants  to  be  told  what  to  do,  and  when 
some  one  has  had  the  sense  to  do  that,  he  goes  and 
does  it. 

If  he  is  in  need  of  the  exercise,  and  the  place  is 
suitable  for  either,  he  will  do  well  to  purchase  a 
row-boat  in  place  of  a  sail-boat,  though  he  may 
have  a  combination  of  the  two.  It  may  be  that  he 
is  near  the  seashore,  or  where  heavy  tides  and 
rough  water  make  sailing  preferable.  In  that  case 
he  will  do  well  to  adopt  sailing  if  he  cannot  com- 
pass rowing,  though  it  will  take  more  care  and 
experience  to  insure  safety.  As  the  benefit  he  will 
gain  is  then  more  due  to  his  being  out-of-doors, 
rather  than  to  the  amount  of  bodily  exercise  he  gains, 


262      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

that  branch  of  the  subject  more  properly  belongs 
to  the  chapter  devoted  to  "  Out-door  lyife." 

Not,  however,  that  the  good  obtainable  from  sail- 
ing is  in  the  out-door  life  alone.  Sailing  is  different, 
for  instance,  from  the  out-door  rest  and  recreation 
of  camping.  Sailing  uses  less  muscle  than  rowing, 
but  it  requires  more  skill.  The  mind  is  fully  exer- 
cised. It  is  the  opposite  of  the  machine  work  of 
the  rower.  For  the  needs  of  some,  who  crave  more 
mental  recreation,  it  is  just  about  the  right  thing  in 
the  way  of  exercise. 


Swimming, 


XIIL 
Swimming. 

Coming  naturally  after  boating,  as  a  means  of 
safety  in  case  of  accident,  and  closely  allied  to  it,  is 
the  art  of  swimming,  not  only  on  account  of  the 
medium  on  or  in  which  the  exercise  is  taken,  but 
on  account  of  the  similarity  of  the  muscular  benefit. 
Swimming  gives  the  motions  that  tend  to  broaden 
the  chest  and  flatten  the  shoulder  blades.  It  requires 
good  lung  power.  The  swimmer  must  breathe  well. 
In  swimming,  the  body  is  necessarily  untrammeled 
by  tight  clothing  so  that  it  is  possible  for  the  lungs 
to  expand  well.  In  ordinary  forward  swimming 
the  head  is  necessarily  kept  erect.  All  parts  of  the 
body  can  join  in  the  exercise.  By  learning  differ- 
ent styles  of  swimming,  on  back,  on  side,  paddling, 
treading  water,  etc.,  the  swimming  bath  can  be 
made  to  give  as  many  varieties  of  motion  as  the 
Swedish  system  of  gymnastics,  or  that  can  be  gained 
by  the  use  of  every  appliance  in  the  gymnasium. 

Swimming,  of  course,  to  be  thoroughly  enjoyed, 
and  to  have  its  full  benefit,  should  be  out-of-doors, 
or  at  least  the  surroundings  must  simulate  the  open 
air.  In  the  ocean,  for  those  who  can  stand  the 
fatigue  of  ocean  bathing,  which,  by  the  way,  in 
shore  bathing  is  less  in  the  exertion  of  swimming 

(265) 


266      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

than  when  buffeting  breakers,  it  is  the  most  enjoy- 
able; though  one  cannot,  being  out  of  smooth  water, 
either  learn  swimming  so  well  nor  exercise  so  great 
a  variety  of  muscles. 

Many  dwellers  in  cities  do  not  care  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  privileges  of  wharf  rats.  River  water 
near  cities  is  apt  to  be  unhealthy  to  bathe  in  and  it 
is  usually  dirty.  The  citizen,  less  fortunate  than 
his  suburban  brother,  must  needs  take  advantage 
of  the  artificial  swimming  pool,  which,  if  built  in 
good  form  with  good  surroundings,  gives  every 
advantage  for  bodily  exercise  under  many  healthful 
conditions  combined  with  the  hygienic  bath.  He  is 
there  independent  of  the  weather,  which  may  make 
swimming  impracticable  or  injurious  to  the  health. 
At  the  pool  he  has  dressing  facilities  that  preclude 
taking  cold  while  dressing,  conveniences  which 
increase  comfort  and  therefore  good  temper,  a 
requisite  of  good  health,  and  he  has  none  of  the 
dangers  of  deep-sea  swimming,  the  roughness  of  sea- 
shore bathing,  or  the  drawbacks  of  broken  bottles, 
rough  tin  cans,  sharp  stones,  hidden  boulders,  or 
other  sunken  objects  of  a  make-shift  swimming 
ground.  It  has  the  great  advantage  of  bringing 
the  facilities  within  the  time  limit  of  busy  men, 
without  which  they  might  as  well  not  exist  so  far 
as  busy  people  are  concerned. 

The  swimming  pool  in  cities  is  now  provided  in 
several  ways.     The  athletic  clubs  are  building  them 


SWIMMING.  267 

in  their  club-houses.  Many  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations  are  doing  the  same.  The 
latter  are  thus  doing  a  good  work  and  are  assisting  to 
raise  the  standard  of  health  by  bringing  this  luxury 
within  the  reach  of  people  of  very  moderate  means. 
The  friends  of  these  organizations  would  do  well 
to  assist  any  such  associations  that  as  yet  do  not 
include  this  feature,  by  helping  to  secure  the  means 
wherewith  it  may  be  added.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
swimming  pool  should  become  more  general.  It  is 
always  popular  and  is  one  of  the  strongest  attrac- 
tions. 

In  both  of  these  classes  of  organizations,  the  pool 
usually  has  one  fault,  that  which  besets  the  gymna- 
sium in  many  Y.  M.  C.  A.  buildings :  it  is  put  into 
the  cellars,  where  poor  ventilation  is  the  rule  and 
where  nothing  but  artificial  light  can  be  had  at  any 
time.  A  perfect  natatorium  should  give  as  near  an 
approach  to  an  open-air  bath  on  a  balmy  summer 
day  as  possible. 

By  using  the  swimming  pools,  which  should 
more  generally  be  kept  open  all  the  year  round,  as 
are  the  Turkish  bathing  establishments  and  kept  at 
a  proper  temperature,  the  sport  can  be  enjoyed  in 
winter  as  in  summer.  Without  the  aid  of  the  pools 
swimming  is  not  an  all-year-round  exercise. 

The  swimmer  in  a  pool,  having  it  within  easy 
reach,  has  the  more  handy  facilities  for  practice,  and 
will  therefore  get  more  frequent  exercise  out  of  it 


268      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

than  an  ontdoor  bather,  and  he  will  become  a  better 
swimmer.  A  large  proportion  of  those  who  cannot 
swim  would  very  soon  learn  if  better  facilities 
could  be  had  in  the  time  at  their  disposal.  The 
mechanic  or  artisan,  whose  labor  absorbs  most  of 
his  day  during  the  sunny  hours,  the  time  best 
suited  for  outdoor  bathing,  might  spend  an  evening- 
hour  in  a  convenient  and  well-regulated  bath,  where 
a  longer  time  could  not  be  given  to  travel  the  dis- 
tance to  a  lake  or  river. 

And  what  a  relief  it  is  after  the  fatigue  of  being 
confined  all  day  at  work,  mental  or  physical,  to 
take  a  dip  and  be  refreshed.  The  cares  of  business 
are  dispelled,  the  unstrung  nerves  receive  renewed 
energy,  a  good  night's  sleep  usually  follows,  making 
one  feel  invigorated,  strengthened  and  prepared  for 
another  day's  work. 

The  free  baths  provided  in  cities  are  apt  to  be- 
come dirty  from  the  personal  habits  of  the  class  of 
people  who  frequent  them.  It  often  happens  that 
they  are  moored  in  unsuitable  water,  in  rivers  which 
take  the  city  sewage.  Even  when  on  land  and  sup- 
plied artificially  they  have  no  medical  supervision. 

Politicians  and  their  appointees  do  not  make 
good  hygienic  officials.  The  water  frequently 
becomes  very  unhealthy  from  want  of  change. 
There  is  not  enough  supervision  of  those  admitted. 
Persons  suffering  from  disease  are  allowed  to  bathe 
promiscuously  with  the  well,  either  from  carelessness 


SWIMMING.  269 

or  ignorance.  It  is  possible  that  such  baths  do 
good  to  people  who  would  otherwise  not  bathe  at 
all,  but  to  others  they  oiten  do  more  harm  than 
good. 

Well-appointed  pools  are  built  by  private  capital, 
either  for  the  furtherance  of  the  art  of  swimming, 
from  motives  of  charitable  good  work,  or  for  the 
purpose  of  making  money.  These  furnish  the  most 
preferable,  and  the  cheapest,  all  things  considered, 
means  of  attaining  the  art  of  swimming  and  of  in- 
dulging in  its  practice.  It  is  a  fact  that  all  of  these 
private  pools,  if  well  placed  and  well  appointed, 
pay  a  good  interest  on  the  investment.  Those  that 
have  the  best  facilities  and  have  had  the  most 
money  spent  upon  them,  pay  better  at  higher  rates 
than  poor  ones  at  lower  rates.  Capitalists  are  spend- 
ing money  on  many  less  profitable  enterprises. 
Philanthropic  capitalists  could  not  only  get  return, 
but  lay  up  for  themselves  reward  hereafter  for  good 
deeds  done  here,  by  the  erection  of  fine  modern  nata- 
toriums.  Swimming  is  not  so  popular  as  other  ath- 
letic sports,  and  it  does  not  keep  pace  with  them 
even  as  a  sport,  which  should  include  exhibitions, 
swimming  races,  water  polo,  etc.,  which  need  experts 
to  take  part  and  awaken  interest,  simply  because  the 
accommodations  are  deficient. 

As  to  the  increase  of  the  number  of  people  who 
would  learn  to  swim  if  more  accommodations  were 
provided,  it  may  be  said  that  a  swimming  teacher 


270         ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE, 

always  follows  the  establishment  of  a  natatorium  as 
a  necessary  consequence,  which  would  not  be  the 
case  if  there  were  not  pupils.  In  the  pool,  an  in- 
structor has  the  best  facilities  for  teaching,  being 
able  to  see  the  motions  of  the  pupil  to  advantage. 
A  competent  instructor  can  in  a  pool  teach  six  or 
more  pupils  at  one  time,  and  can  give  more  fre- 
quent practical  demonstrations  of  the  various  modes 
of  swimming  without  risk  of  catching  cold. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  that  in  England 
and  Scotland  there  are  upwards  of  350  swimming 
and  water-polo  clubs,  117  of  which  are  in  lyondon. 
The  latter  city  contains  fifty-six  natatoriums,  some 
of  which  have  three  large  swimming  pools.  There 
are  also  ten  open-air  bathing  places. 

The  erection  of  natatorium  buildings  could  be 
undertaken  by  certain  athletic  clubs  who  are  now 
too  poor  to  make  the  swimming  pool  a  free  feature 
for  its  members,  if  the  natatorium  were  made  a 
financial  auxiliary,  as  it  could  be  if  it  were  planned 
on  the  most  modern  principles.  It  could  be  made 
the  means  of  putting  the  club  itself  on  a  firmer 
financial  basis.  A  natatorium,  including  Turkish 
and  other  baths,  gymnastic  apparatus,  and  all  mod- 
ern improvements  for  the  promotion  of  physical  cul- 
ture, would  prove  a  financial  success  in  any  large  city. 

The  essentials  of  the  pool  in  such  a  building 
would  be  plenty  of  daylight,  plenty  of  ventilation, 
suitable  temperature  and  cleanliness. 


SWIMMING,  271 

In  the  opinion  of  an  expert  in  that  line  the  exca- 
vation for  the  pool  should  commence  on  the  ground 
floor,  and,  where  the  temperature  of  the  water  has 
to  be  raised  by  artificial  means,  the  pool  should 
never  exceed  one  hundred  feet  in  length  by  thirty- 
three  in  breadth,  and  should  vary  in  depth  from 
three  feet  six  inches  to  eight  feet,  the  most  conve- 
nient size  being  seventy-five  by  thirty  feet.  The 
water  should  always  be  as  clear  as  possible.  Porce- 
lain-faced bricks  and  tiles  should  be  freely  used 
wherever  the  water  is  likely  to  come  in  contact  with 
them,  the  sides  of  the  pool  being  lined  with  the 
brick,  and  the  bottom  with  tile,  and  backed  with 
concrete  and  good  clay  puddle.  Before  lining  the 
pool  with  brick  and  tile  it  should  be  filled  with 
water  and  thoroughly  tested.  It  is  repeatedly  found 
that  when  the  pool  is  thought  finished  it  will  not 
hold  water,  particularly  when  the  excavation  is  in 
loam  or  gravel,  or  abutting  foundations  or  retaining 
walls.  The  builders  of  the  present  day  place  too 
much  confidence  in  concrete  and  cement,  ignoring 
the  old  Egyptian  method  of  puddling  before  apply- 
ing the  concrete  or  cement.  The  slightest  settling 
of  the  walls  or  ground  will  cause  the  cement  to 
crack,  and  if  this  is  not  properly  backed  with  good 
clay  puddle,  will  cause  a  leakage  which  it  is  very 
difiicult  to  repair.  The  outlet  for  emptying  the 
pool  should  be  of  sufficient  size  to  draw  off"  the 
water  inside  of  two  hours,  and  the  filling  of  the 


272       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

same  should  occupy  not  more  than  eight  hours. 
The  heating  apparatus  should  be  so  arranged  that 
tepefaction  can  be  going  on  while  refilling,  and 
should  be  of  sufficient  power  to  raise  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  whole  body  of  water  twenty-five  degrees, 
or,  in  other  words,  from  forty-five  to  seventy  degrees 
Fahrenheit,  in  eight  hours. 

The  ground  floor  of  the  bath-room  should  be  kept 
as  dry  and  clean  as  possible.  This  can  be  done  by 
having  a  drain  made  around  the  pool  about  two  feet 
from  the  sides,  and  covered  with  portable  wooden 
grids.  This  serves  as  an  overflow,  and  carries  away 
the  water  from  the  dripping  bathers  previous  to 
entering  the  dressing-rooms.  The  coping  around 
the  edge  of  the  pool  and  grids  should  be  about  three 
feet  wide.  Another  pathway  of  stone,  elevated  six 
inches  above  this  coping,  slightly  inclined  toward 
the  drain,  should  run  all  around  the  pool.  The 
floor  of  the  dressing-rooms  should  be  one  foot  higher 
than  the  pathway.  The  lockers  and  dressing-rooms 
can  easily  be  made  to  accommodate  a  large  num- 
ber of  spectators  in  case  of  a  swimming  entertain- 
ment. 

The  woodwork  should  be  of  pitch  pine  varnished 
and  the  walls  should  be  painted  in  light  colors,  to 
harmonize  with  the  surroundings,  the  whole  being 
covered  by  an  ornamental  roof,  with  plenty  of  vsky- 
light  and  ventilation.  A  natatorium  constructed 
on  these  lines  would  be  as  near  an  approach  to  the 


SWIMMING. 


273 


Open-air  bath  as  possible  and  still  be  as  comfortable 
as  a  bedroom. 

No  gymnastic  apparatus,  sucb  as  flying  rings, 
inclined  slides,  or  projecting  spring  boards,  should 
be  allowed  over  the  pool,  as  these  are  a  constant 
menace  to  the  pupil  and  teacher  and  a  source  of 
accidents,  while  the  absence  of  these  unnecessary 
features  prevents  much  noise  and  rudeness  of  con- 


SWIMMING  WITH   ARTIFICIAI,   AIDS— PlyATEvS    FASTENED  TO 
HANDS  AND   FEET — AND  CARRYING  WEIGHTS. 

duct  on  the  part  of  unthinking  bathers,  who  would 
otherwise  regard  the  swimming  pool  as  a  play- 
ground for  horse-play  and  indulge  in  exercises 
taking  their  attention  away  from  the  very  practice 
for  which  the  bath  is  intended. 

Swimming  as  an  art  has  practical  uses  which 
other  athletics  have  not,  beyond  the  mere  se- 
curing of  a  cooling  bath  on  a  hot  day.     If  more 

18 


274      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

women  learned  even  the  first  rudiments  of  it,  there 
would  not  be  so  many  drowning  accidents  of  gal- 
lant swimmers  who  have  gone  to  their  rescue. 
Fright  at  being  out  of  depth  in  the  unfamiliar 
element  is  more  dangerous  to  both  parties  than  the 
absence  of  a  knowledge  of  swimming.  In  these 
days  of  extensive  travel  and  adventure  our  educa- 
tion should  fit  us  for  all  emergencies.  A  good 
swimmer  ought  also  to  have  a  thorough  enough 
knowledge  of  swimming  to  teach  him  what  not  to 
do.  Many  swimmers  are  drowned  when  a  non- 
swimmer  would  not  be,  by  taking  risks  which  one 
who  could  not  swim  would  not.  I^et  the  glory  of 
swimming  the  Hellespont,  or  other  unnecessary 
feat  be  left  for  the  Byrons  or  such  exceptional 
people.  lyct  everyday  people  be  content  with  the 
art  for  enjoyment  or  as  a  possible  means  of  safety. 
Swimming  as  an  exercise  is  a  violent  one.  It 
requires  practice  to  keep  it  up  for  any  length  of 
time.  The  use  of  both  arms  and  both  legs  at  once 
would  indicate  this.  An  expert  swimmer  alternates 
the  periods  of  greatest  strain  on  arms  and  legs  so  as 
to  be  able  to  keep  up  longer.  He  also  changes  his 
gait  or  means  of  progression,  or  uses  means  of 
resting  in  the  water.  Even  with  these  aids  a  thin- 
blooded  person,  or  one  with  weak  constitution, 
should  attempt  it  carefully.  A  very  little  will  be 
excess  to  him.  He  will  find  the  result  enervating 
and  injurious  if  excessive.    What  he  can  do  is  to  try 


SWIMMING. 


276 


it  in  a  very  mild  form  indeed,  with  a  very  limited 
allowance  of  time,  by  which  means  he  can  soon  tell 
if  it  is  a  benefit  or  the  opposite.  If  beneficial,  as 
his  strength  and  health  improve,  he  will  soon  be 
able  to  do  more  gradually. 

It  is  curious  that  almost  every  animal  except 
man  can  swim  naturally  on  finding  itself  in  the 
water  for  the  first  time.  In  most  cases  the  animal 
has  a  barrel-shaped  body,  large  in  proportion  to  its 
head  and  legs,  which  serves 
as  a  buoy  to  keep  it  afloat. 
Again,  the  position  of  its 
body  is  nearly  the  same  in 
water  as  on  land,  and  the 
action  of  the  limbs  in  swim- 
ming is  nearly  identical  with 
that  used  in  walking.  Even 
the  pig  can  swim,  though  it 
is  death  to  him  to  do  it  to 
any  extent,  from  the  unpleas- 
ant habit  he  has  of  cutting  his  throat  with  his 
sharp  nails. 

The  brain  is  an  important  part  of  man's  struc- 
ture, and  his  proportionately  big  head  which  holds 
it,  heavy  compared  with  the  body,  makes  him  top- 
heavy  in  water.  If  it  were  not  for  this  the  art  of 
swimming  would  be  unknown,  for  it  would  be  no 
art  to  learn  what  comes  naturally  to  every  one.  To 
acquire  the  art  a  man  must  look  on  himself  as  a 


FIG.  34. 

The    kick,  first   position,  seen 

from  above. 


276       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 


boat,  buoyant,  but  with  low-water  line,  wliicli  lie 
must  navigate  with  his  own  strength  by  means  of 
a  double  pair  of  sculls,  his  arms  and  feet.  In  this 
propulsion,  which  can  be  varied  indefinitely  in  form, 
he  gets  the  exercise. 

The  exercise  in  ordinary  forward  breast  swim- 
ming is  to  the  arms  and  legs  about  equally.     The 


FIG.    35- 

The  kick,  second  position,  seen  from  above,  showing- 
proper  width  of  motion. 

chest  is  expanded  and  the  head  is  thrown  back. 
The  leg  action  is  the  most  violent.  To  be  a  good 
swimmer  one  must  have  a  vigorous  kick,  which 
must  not  only  be  delivered  backward  but  sideways 
as  well :  [Figs.  34,  35  and  36].  This  side  motion 
uses  muscles  which  would  not  be  used  if  the  foot 
motion  did  not  widen  apart  as  the  feet  are  pushed 
from  the  body.     The  motion   is  not  only  at  the 


SWIMMING. 


277 


knees  and  hips  but  at  the  ankles.  The  arm  motions 
include  the  wrist,  a  twist  of  the  arm  and  the  sweep 
from  the  shoulder. 

The  breathing  has  to  be  regular  and  long,  for  the 
breath  is  best  taken  in  when  the  hands  are  forward 
supporting  the  rest  of  the  body.     The  regularity 


FIG.  36. 
The  kick,  third  position,  seen  from  above. 

will  correspond  with  the  strokes.  It  has  to  be  full 
or  the  inspiration  would  not  be  enough  to  last  until 
the  next  stroke. 

The  tension  of  the  muscles  of  the  neck  in  this 
forward  breast  stroke,  which  on  the  whole  is  the 
most  useful,  in  long  distances  is  sometimes  too 
great  to  be  advantageous,  as  the  head  is  thrown 


278      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE 

back  beyond  its  normal  position  to  clear  the  mouth. 
At  such  times  a  change  can  be  made  with  advan- 
tage to  the  side  stroke  which  is  always  a  good 
alternate,  a  good  stroke  at  any  time,  and  which 
some  claim  is  the  way  nature  intended  that  man 
should  swim,  as  in  that  position  the  body  moves 
more  easily  through  the  water  to  which  it  offers  less 
resistance,  while  the  action  of  the  arms  is  not  so 
fatiguing,  and  the  head  is  supported  by  the  water 
at  the  proper  angle  to  the  trunk. 


KJG.    37. 

Swimming  on  the  back,  head  foremost.    Seen  from 
above. 

*rhis  stroke  not  only  gives  one  change,  which  is 
an  entire  change  and  relief,  but  two,  for  what  can 
be  done  on  one  side  can  be  done  on  the  other. 
While  swimming  on  one  side  the  muscles  of  both 
sides  are  exercising  but  in  a  different  way.  By 
changing,  both  sides  get  the  same  exercise. 

The  side  stroke  has  many  modifications,  all  with 
different  muscular  exercise.  There  is  also  a  stroke 
much  used  in  racing,  the  over-arm  stroke,  giving 
great  rapidity  of  action.  There  is  also  the  over- 
hand method.     Swimming  can  also  be  done  on  the 


SWIMMING.  279 

back,  using  other  muscular  actions;  with  the  hands 
only,  or  hands  and  feet,  and  with  either  the  head  or 
feet  foremost  [Figs.  '^^  and  38].  A  rather  energetic 
paddling  while  floating  can  be  manoeuvred  by  a  suc- 
cession of  twists  of  the  forearm  and  wrist.  The 
hands  are  made  to  describe  small  circles  in  the 
water  from  front  to  back  [Fig.  39],  they  being 
feathered  on  the  return  stroke.  Certain  kinds  of 
swimming  are  done  with  the  arms  clasped  over  the 


FIG.  38. 

One  form  of  back  swimming  with  feet  foremost,  using  a  scoop- 
like action  of  hand,  forearm  and  wrist,  by  turning  the  palms 
while  the  arms  are  extended. 

head  [Fig.  38],  again  giving  a  change  in  the  posi- 
tion of  the  muscles. 

The  feathering  of  the  hands  as  they  shoot  for- 
ward in  many  kinds  of  strokes  is  a  feature  which 
gives  exercise  to  certain  muscles. 

By  alternating  different  forms  of  swimming,  the 
swimmer  can  go  through  a  regular  progression  of 
muscle  exercises  as  easily  as  if  he  were  following 
out  a  course  which  included  every  gymnastic 
machine  and  with  infinitely  more  profit.  Con- 
sidering all  the  swimming  movements,  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  any  gymnasium,  even  the  best  equipped 


280      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

and  most  expensive,  furnishes  enough  appliances  to 
give  all  the  motions  possible  in  swimming,  certainly 
not  so  many  at  one  and  the  same  time. 

As  an  evidence  of  interest  in  the  art,  mention 
may  be  made  of  an  invention  for  teaching  swim- 
ming without  water  facilities,  and  by  means  of 
which  some  of  the  varied  exercises  of  swimming 
may  be  practiced  out  of  the  water. 

The  art  of  swimming  has  for  some  time  been 
taught  in  the  German  army,  recruits  being  obliged 


KIG.  39. 

Swimming  head  first  on  back  with  hands  only, 
feathering  the  hands.  This  can  also  be  per- 
formed feet  first,  using  more  of  the  chest  stroke. 

to  go  through  aquatic  drills  laden  with  guns  and 
knapsacks.  In  the  war  of  1870,  a  Frenchman 
noticed  this  fact  and  saw  the  advantage  it  gave  the 
Germans  under  certain  circumstances.  The  French 
soldiers,  as  a  rule,  could  not  swim  at  all.  The  ap- 
paratus devised  to  meet  the  deficiency  by  making 
the  instructions  easy  and  general  was  so  constructed 
that  it  could  be  used  for  class  instruction  to  num- 
bers of  pupils,  and  did  not  have  the  drawbacks  of 
all  previous  swimming  machines  which  had  no 
practical  value,  because  the  practice  gained  was  so 


SWIMMING. 


281 


different  from  the  reality  in  water.  It  is  said  that 
when  this  invention  was  first  tried  in  public  a  class 
of  twenty  pupils  was  instructed,  not  one  of  whom 
knew  how  to  swim.  Bach  pupil  used  the  machine 
for  a  minute  and  a  half  during  a  continuous  session 
of  six  half-hour  lessons,  which  made  a  total  of  nine 
minutes  of  personal  instruction  to  each  pupil. 
These  twenty  pupils  were  then   taken  to  a   large 


FIG.  40. 
pond,  and  every  one  of  them  swam  across  without 
aid  of  any  kind.  They  at  least  knew  enough  not  to 
get  drowned  should  they  fall  into  the  water.  The 
absence  of  the  usual  nervousness  that  is  apt  to 
attack  a  beginner  when  in  deep  water,  was  particu- 
larly noticeable. 

The  machine  is  very  simple.     [Fig.  40.] 
The  apparatus  stands  on  three  legs,  arranged  like 
a  tripod,  with  two  smaller  and  extra  legs  at  the 


282     ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

back  on  rollers,  and  so  arranged  that  the  top  parts, 
which  are  somewhat  bent,  can  swing  partially 
around  by  the  movement  of  the  body.  On  the  top 
of  the  tripod  there  is  a  carefully  shaped  "  rest " 
covered  with  a  stuffed  cushion,  which  fits  properly 
against  the  chest,  so  that  when  lying  on  it  squarely 
one  can  move  the  legs  and  arms  and  shoulders  with 
perfect  ease.  The  upper  part  of  the  chest  does  not 
touch  the  contrivance,  neither  does  the  belly,  and 
the  pupil  can  breathe  freely  and  remain  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  in  this  position  without  fatigue. 

In  front  of  the  chest-rest,  and  attached  to  the 
front  leg  of  the  tripod,  is  an  iron  rest,  with  a  soft 
knob  on  the  top,  so  arranged  that  when  in  position 
it  supports  the  chin  in  precisely  the  position  the 
head  should  occupy  when  in  the  water.  On  the 
top  of  each  of  the  two  extra  legs  there  is  another 
smaller  cushion-rest,  grooved  in  such  a  manner  that 
they  support  the  legs  just  above  the  knee-joint, 
allowing  free  movement  for  the  knees.  And  on  the 
outside  of  each  of  these  legs  there  is  a  little  rod 
of  iron  running  at  a  jointed  angle  up  above  the 
learner's  body,  with  a  hole  in  the  top  of  each. 

From  the  chin-rest  and  from  the  knee-rest  rods 
stout  pieces  of  rubber  elastic  hang — two  from  each 
rest,  one  for  each  hand  and  one  for  each  foot.  The 
two  hand  rubber  cords  have  handles,  like  pulley- 
weight  handles,  which  are  grasped  in  each  hand,  and 
the  two  foot-cords  have  something  like  the  saddle 


SWIMMING. 


283 


stirrups  used  by  cowboys  [Fig.  40]  attached  to  them, 
into  which  the  feet  are  thrust.  But  as  the  two 
extra  legs  which  support  the  knees  will  turn  in  and 
out,  the  elastic  which  holds  the  right-foot  shoe 
passes  up  through  the  hole  above  the  right  leg, 
and  is  fastened  to  the  top  of  the  left  leg,  and  vice 
versa  with  the  left  elastic. 

The  inventor  has  found  by  careful  trial  that  with 
this  apparatus  a  boy  in  the  positions  shown  in  the 


illustrations  must  necessarily  make  just  the  right 
motions  required  in  swimming. 

At  the  command  "  one  "  the  pupil  takes  the  posi- 
tion shown  in  Fig.  41.  That  is  he  draws  up  his 
legs  with  his  heels  together,  and  draws  in  his  hands, 
keeping  the  palms  together.  The  strange  thing 
about  it  is  that  if  the  palms  and  heels  are  kept  to- 
gether the  elastic  will  only  let  the  pupil  make  the 


284     ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 


movement  in  one  way,  and  that  is  the  right  way, 
and  stranger  still,  the  resistance  of  the  strained 
rubber  bands  is  the  same,  and  in  the  same  direction 
as  the  resistance  of  the  water  will  be  when  he 
begins  to  swim  in  the  proper  medium. 

At  the  command  "  two "  he  merely  straightens 
out  arms  and  legs,  as  in  Fig.  42,  still  keeping  the 
palms  of  the  hands  together  and  stretching  the  legs 
as  far  apart  as  possible,  with  the  toes  pointing  down. 


FIG.  42. 

The  elastic  ropes  are  now  straining  hard,  and  at  the 
command  "  three  "  the  legs  naturally  come  together, 
still  straight,  and  also  by  the  force  of  the  elastics 
the  hands  with  palms  down  naturally  separate  a  few 
inches.  In  this  position  [Fig.  43]  the  body  ought 
to  be  extended  to  its  greatest  length.  At  the 
"  fourth  "  command,  still  by  the  force  of  the  elas- 
tics, the  stiffened  arms  swing  around  in  a  quarter  of 
a  circle  [Fig.  44],  and  finally  come  back  to  the 
position  in  Fig.  41,  while  the  legs  are  pulled  up 


SWIMMING. 


285 


again  into  the  first  position,  also,  and  the  first  stroke 
is  finished. 

This  contrivance  has  been  found  useful  in  some 
gymnasiums,  being  used  to  develop  muscles  and 
enlarge  the  chest  by  means  of  long,  deep  respira- 
tions, independent  of  its  use  for  teaching  swimming. 
It  is  said  to  have  been  adopted  for  use  in  some  sec- 
tions of  the  French  army,  and  has  had  an  introduc- 
tion into  England,  where  military  instruction  in 


FIG.  43. 

swimming  has  been  carried  on  somewhat  system- 
atically since  the  sinking  of  the  Victoria. 

Most  people  have  an  idea,  because  it  is  a  health- 
ful thing  to  take  an  early  morning  "  tub  "  before 
breakfast,  that  therefore  it  is  the  proper  thing  to 
take  a  swim,  which  involves  violent  exercise,  at 
such  an  hour  and  on  an  empty  stomach.  In  good 
old  times  the  swimmer  who  had  the  chance,  on  wak- 
ing from  his  slumbers,  used  always  to  partly  dress 
himself  only,  take  his  toilet  requisites  in  a  towel, 
and  go  for  the  river  or  beach  at  a  very  early  hour. 


286      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

This  custom  is  decidedly  wrong.  Any  exercise 
taken  under  such  circumstances  is  harmful.  In  the 
case  of  swimming,  some  constitutions  can  stand 
that  sort  of  thing  in  spite  of  its  disadvantages. 
They  may  even  be  strong  enough  to  be  benefited 
by  it,  though  not  as  much  as  they  would  be  at  a 
better  time.  Usually,  particularly  if  the  swimmer 
is  a  growing  boy,  such  swimming  before  breakfast 
has  anything  but  an  invigorating  effect.  It  leaves 
behind  instead  a  feeling  of  lassitude  and  weariness, 
which  lasts  sometimes  until  midday  and  sometimes 
all  day. 

The  most  enjoyable  time  to  take  an  outdoor  swim, 
if  it  can  be  had  then,  is  between  ten  and  two  o'clock 
of  the  day,  midway  between  two  meals  preferred, 
and  while  the  sun  power  is  at  its  height.  Those 
who  cannot  avail  themselves  of  this  time  should 
take  the  latter  part  of  the  day  in  preference  to 
early  morn.  A  bath  before  supper  sends  one  home 
with  a  healthy  appetite  and  a  soothed  nervous 
system  which  predisposes  to  a  sound  night's  sleep. 
One  must  never  attempt  to  enter  the  water  directly 
after  a  hearty  meal,  though  there  is  no  harm  in  a 
biscuit  or  the  like  beforehand.  If  over-fatigued  by 
previous  exertion  or  want  of  rest,  take  a  hot  tub 
indoors  in  preference. 

Many  bathers  are  afraid  to  enter  the  water  while 
warm,  and  as  a  remedy  peel  off  their  clothes  and 
sit  down  to  cool  before  entering.     A  chill  is  the 


SWIMMING. 


287 


inevitable  result,  which  will  be  noticed  in  chattering 
teeth  and  shaking  fingers  while  dressing  afterward. 
Most  constitutions   suffer   no   inconvenience   from 


FIG.  44. 
plunging  in  while  hot.     If  the  rubbing  is  well  kept 
up  while  dressing,  a  comfortable  glow  will  succeed 
such  a  plunge. 


Boxing,  etc. 


o    ^2 

15     bfPiJ 


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^*-  vo 


XIV. 

Boxing,  Wrestling  and  Fencing. 

The  exigencies  of  modern  life  do  not  call  for  as 
much  knowledge  of  the  noble  art  of  self-defence  as 
formerly.  When  self-defence  is  now  necessary,  we 
trust  to  something  less  noble,  ranging  all  the  way 
from  a  pocket  pistol  to  a  policeman. 

There  is  a  great  difference  between  the  art  of 
boxing  and  what  was  formerly  called  the  noble  art 
of  fighting.  The  objections  usually  urged  against 
boxing — that  it  tends  to  make  men  quarrelsome, 
that  it  is  brutalizing,  that  it  is  dangerous,  and  that 
it  is  of  no  practical  value — all  come  from  confound- 
ing boxing  with  fighting.  One  reason  why  boxing 
has  fallen  into  disrepute  compared  with  what  it 
once  was,  is  that  it  is  confused  with  the  practice 
of  prize  fighting,  with  bare  hands  or  the  equivalent, 
and  under  improper  rules. 

The  sport  is  very  ancient.  The  Greeks  and 
Romans  used  it  for  displays  of  professional  skill, 
and  the  youths  were  all  taught  the  art. 

It  seems  a  pity  that  boxing,  froiii  its  evil  sur- 
roundings, should  fall  into  disrepute  as  a  means 
of  physical  exercise.  The  good  boxer,  no  matter 
what  his  face  or  position  in  life,  has  a  supple  and 

(291) 


292      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE, 

lasting  muscular  development  wliicli  may  be  spoken 
of  as  "  grand  "  [see  Fig.  47].  His  movements  are 
graceful  and  free.  His  head  is  firm  and  erect. 
His  eye  is  watchful.  The  lungs  have  plenty  of 
room  to  work.  The  shoulders  are  square.  His 
step  is  elastic.  His  thigh  impresses  one  with  a 
sense  of  stability  and  power.  His  gait  shows 
nimbleness  and  agility.  He  has  beautiful  skin 
from  frequent  exercise,  much  perspiration  and  con- 
stant rubbing,  which  cause  every  pore  to  perform 
its  proper  function.  The  best  boxer  is  often  not 
a  bully.  He  is  tolerant  and  patient  because  he 
is  self-reliant  and  knows  that  he  can,  if  necessary, 
take  care  of  himself  without  need  for  bullying.  He 
rather  has  a  command  of  temper,  on  which  his  suc- 
cess as  a  boxer  depends. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  boxing  as  a  sport 
has  had  many  admirers  among  the  best  classes  of 
people.  Sir  Robert  Peal  said  there  was  nothing 
interested  him  like  good  boxing.  It  asks  steadi- 
ness, control  and  manly  courage.  You  must  take 
as  well  as  give. 

As  an  exercise,  the  variety  of  action  may  be 
seen  in  Fig.  45,  and  the  muscle  play  in  Fig.  46. 

It  is  still  handy  at  times  to  know  the  use  of 
nature's  own  weapons,  for  there  may  be  none  others 
near.  Those,  however,  who  study  the  art  only  as 
a  means  of  recreation  and  exercise  should  do  all  in 
their  power  to  free  it  from  all  connection  with,  or 


294      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

suggestion  of,  the  brutality  of  the  prize  ring.  Skill 
and  refinement  alone  render  it  worthy  of  being 
classed  as  an  art.  Fencing  emanated  from  slashing 
and  cutting  affrays,  and  there  is  no  reason  why 
recreative  boxing  in  the  march  of  civilization 
should  not  emanate  from  rough  and  tumble  fights, 
with  the  brutality,  kicking,  gouging  and  disfigur- 
ing, which  were  once  component  parts,  suppressed. 
All  these  were  once  considered  rational  amuse- 
ments, but  are  now  justly  deemed  brutal. 

For  exhibition  purposes  only,  manly  and  fair 
fighting,  the  fighters  who  use  skill  and  not  brute 
force,  gain  the  most  admiration.  Two  unskillful 
men  slugging  each  other  appeal  to  a  smaller  class 
than  is  generally  supposed.  In  a  movement  to 
make  the  art  one  for  good  exercise  and  more  gen- 
eral, certain  amateur  athletic  clubs  which  foster 
boxing,  might  do  good  work.  They  should  en- 
courage the  practice  and  acquirement  of  proficiency 
among  their  own  members,  rather  than  pay  indi- 
rectly or  directly  for  the  services  of  professional  or 
other  outsiders  of  a  low  class,  who  slug  for  the  so- 
called  amusement  of  a  few  of  the  members.  These 
paid  sluggers  often  condescend  to  many  of  the  lowest 
tricks  of  the  prize  ring.  Their  skill  in  making  the 
most  of  every  mean  advantage  is  superior  to  their 
ability  in  actual  fighting.  They  are  the  men  that 
lie  down  without  a  blow.  They  provoke  their 
opponents   to  foul   blows,  or   claim  a  verdict  on 


FIG.  47. — A  BOXER. 


BOXING.  295 

account  of  an  imaginary  one.  As  an  exercise, 
such  boxing  is  worse  than  useless.  In  an  actual 
fight,  in  a  ring,  a  house,  or  the  street,  it  would  be 
of  no  value  whatever.  It  does  not  improve  one's 
bearing.  It  is  not  artistic  or  graceful.  It  is  op- 
posed to  every  principle  of  decency.  It  is  noticed 
that  when  two  prominent  boxers  of  this  school  come 
together  with  any  degree  of  publicity,  boxing  as  an 
art  has  always  suffered  in  public  estimation. 

On  the  other  hand  the  man  with  science  is  not 
only  usually  successful  but  he  has  the  public  with 
him.  There  have  always  been  such  disciples  of  the 
art,  but  their  reputation  suffers  with  that  of  their 
miserable  brethren. 

Boxing  as  an  art  is  the  development  and  perfec- 
tion of  attack  and  defence,  of  the  unarmed  man 
against  an  unarmed  antagonist.  A  boxer  against  a 
man  with  a  pistol  would  not  be  gentlemanly  sport. 

Boxing  can  give  balance  to  the  whole  figure,  and 
to  attain  this  the  left  hand  should  not  always  be 
used  in  guarding,  nor  the  left  shoulder  always  lifted 
for  the  protection  of  the  head.  The  boxer  should 
learn  to  alternate  or  off-set  with  some  other  exer- 
cises. A  person  who  practices  fencing  without  the 
supervision  of  a  teacher,  who,  in  teaching  that  art 
always  alternates  the  hand  which  holds  the  foil,  is 
apt  to  keep  the  right  arm  and  shoulder  higher  than 
the  other.  Similarly  in  boxing  without  supervision 
there  is  a  like  result,  but  the  side  which  suffers  is 


296      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

the  opposite  side  from  the  one  which  is  neglected 
by  an  inexpert  fencer.  To  that  extent,  one  of  these 
sports  is  an  off-set  to  the  other,  or  this  nsual  eleva- 
tion of  the  left  shoulder  in  boxing  can  be  made  an 
off-set  to  many  other  exercises  in  which  the  right 
predominates. 

The  figure  of  a  professional  boxer,  many  years 
retired  [Fig  47],  shows  in  its  Apollo-like  outlines 
not  only  the  development  gained  by  means  of  box- 
ing, but  that  the  development  thus  gained,  whether 
from  this  or  other  similar  sources,  can  be  maintained 
with  very  little  trouble,  after  the  years  of  more 
active  exercise  are  over. 

One  word  about  selecting  a  boxing  teacher  who 
is  not  vouched  for  by  a  responsible  party.  There 
is  a  class  in  existence  composed  of  retired  fighters 
who  are  ready  to  impart  knowledge  at  small  rates 
with  other  perquisites  such  as  the  purchase  of  your 
apparatus.  Many  of  these  men  are  great  sluggers. 
They  will  treat  you  to  black  eyes,  broken  noses,  or 
missing  teeth,  holding  that  it  is  a  necessary  training 
in  the  art.  Decent  teachers  can,  however,  be  ob- 
tained who  will  prove  that  a  knowledge  of  the  noble 
part  of  the  art  can  be  gained  without  the  use  of  such 
ungentlemanly  methods. 

Wrestling  is  a  muscular  exercise  much  indulged 
in  as  a  recreation  in  the  gymnasiums  of  colleges 
and  athletic  clubs.  If  you  want  to  see  good  mus- 
cles to  perfection,  while  in  action,  watch  two  good 


WRESTLING.  297 

wrestlers  at  work,  while  trying  a  friendly  bout. 
They  will  often  be  boating  or  other  athletic  men  at 
exercise.  If  the  men  are  trained  and  in  good  con- 
dition the  sight  is  worth  seeing.  The  sport  is  said 
to  be  much  cultivated  at  Cornell,  where  a  special 
instructor  is,  or  was  employed,  who  has  a  large 
number  of  interested  pupils. 

A  writer  in  Outing  makes  the  statement  that 
there  is  hardly  a  muscle  in  the  body  that  wrest- 
ling does  not  directly  get  hold  of  and  pull  out  as 
though  it  were  a  spiral  spring.  The  long  ridges  of 
a  wrestler's  back  rise  under  the  strain,  and  the 
calves,  thighs,  and  arms  stiffen  to  their  work  as  one 
or  another  of  the  contestants  get  the  advantage. 
Great  muscular  strength  is  not  all  that  wrestling 
cultivates.  A  man  who  is  simply  strong  cannot 
excel.  Anyone  can  wrestle,  but  to  succeed  in  being 
on  top  when  the  fall  comes,  one  must  add  to 
physical  strength  a  rare  combination  of  agility, 
patient  endurance,  quick  appreciation  of  an  open- 
ing, and  as  quick  a  muscular  response  to  his  men- 
tal alertness  in  perceiving  the  opening.  He  must 
also  be  cool,  for  an  angry  man  usually  throws 
himself  It  is  a  hearty  all-round  exercise  for  wits 
and  muscles. 

Wrestling  on  a  gymnasium  mattress  has  no  acci- 
dents worthy  of  the  name.  There  are  lame  arms 
and  necks  and  backs  sometimes,  which  are  a  lesson 
not  to  overtax.     These  are  easily  cured  by  a  warm 


298       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

bath  followed  by  a  quick,  cold  shock  and  a  hearty 
rub-down. 

This  sport  is  also  historical  and  of  great  age.  It 
has  been  used  in  all  countries  among  the  ancients, 
and  among  all  nations  to-day.  In  England  there 
are  several  different  systems  of  wrestling,  which 
have  been  in  use  in  the  different  sections  of  the 
country  for  ages.  Germans  and  French  alike  enjoy 
it.  The  Japanese  are  great  wrestlers.  The  sport 
has  never  been  in  the  disrepute  which  has  clouded 
boxing  at  various  times. 

Wrestling  is  too  heavy  a  sport  for  general  adop- 
tion by  every  one.  It  is  probably  the  most  violent 
of  all  exercises.  It  is  also  so  exhilarating  that 
when  engaged  in  it  few  give  up  until  the  bout  is 
over.  The  wrestlers  should  be  in  good  condition, 
and  should  only  engage  in  a  competition  that  is 
fairly  even. 

No  coward  can  be  a  wrestler.  Like  in  boxing, 
but  to  a  more  marked  degree,  the  battle  is  not  to 
the  strong  unless  other  qualities  are  added. 

The  wrestlers  in  Fig  48  are  amateurs.  They 
love  the  sport,  practice  it  from  choice  and  enjoy 
it.  Not  less  interested  is  the  good-natured  umpire 
watching  for  the  shoulders  to  touch  the  ground, 
who  is  the  most  characteristic  figure  of  the  group. 

Akin  to  wrestling  is  tinnbling  which  is  natural 
to  both  animals  and  the  human  race.  It  is  the 
sport  of  the  young  of   both.       It    develops   into 


FENCfNC.  299 

acrobatic  work  and  can  be  made  good  exercise.  As 
an  exercise  some  prefer  it,  and  count  it  more  bene- 
ficial than  wrestling,  and  much  more  so  than  boxing 
or  fencing. 

Another  useful  exercise,  but  a  much  neglected 
one  is  fencing,  neglected  mainly  because  it  has  sur- 
vived the  uses  which  called  it  into  being.  Though 
it  has  the  advantage  of  being  an  exercise  that  one 
can  take  up  anywhere  at  a  moment's  notice,  and 


FENCING. 

for  as  short  a  time  as  necessary,  it  is  always,  as  it 
were,  put  on  trial  to  justify  its  continued  existence. 
Another  advantage  is  that  it  requires  only  two  to 
take  part.  The  other  man  is  easier  to  find  than 
enough  for  a  game  of  ball  of  any  kind.  In  the 
few  places  where  fencing  is  still  taught,  it  is  often 
looked  on  by  those  who  adopt  it  in  the  light  of  a 
penance.  Since  the  days  of  the  rapier  and  duels 
with    us    are    numbered,    there    seems  to    be    no 


300      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

incentive  to  keep  it  up.  Yet  it  is  an  exercise  not 
only  for  men,  but  excellent  for  women  and  good  for 
children.  Among  some  of  its  votaries  are  said  to 
be  women  who  practice  it  solely  to  improve  their 
complexion,  which  it  does,  as  will  other  exercises, 
or  to  restore  the  charms  of  younger  life. 

It  has  the  disadvantage  that  its  technique,  its 
mechanical  part,  is  somewhat  difficult  to  master. 

Among  the  physical  powers  which  are  peculiarly 
developed  by  fencing,  may  be  mentioned  particu- 
larly the  use  of  the  hand,  wrist  and  fingers,  which 
play  as  important  a  part  as  they  do  in  performing 
on  a  musical  instrument.  Delicacy  is  an  essential. 
Neatness  and  quickness,  as  in  parrying  and  the  like, 
depend  on  the  firm  and  rapid  use  of  fingers  and 
wrist. 

In  fencing,  the  rapid  movements  of  the  foil  work 
every  muscle  in  the  shoulder  and  fore-arm.  The 
quick  advance  and  retreat  develop  the  lower  limbs. 
The  tension  of  the  whole  body  brings  into  action 
the  internal  organs.  The  frequent  use  of  a  bent 
position  of  the  legs,  the  body  being  forced  well 
down  on  the  knees,  giving  pliability.  The  eye  is 
trained  in  anticipating  attacks,  detecting  openings, 
and  in  measuring  distances  accurately.  The  car- 
riage of  the  head  is  erect,  and  the  shoulders  are 
braced  back.  It  is  a  very  useful  exercise  to  counter- 
act the  effect  on  lungs  and  heart  of  narrow  con- 
tracted chests  and  stooping  shoulders. 


FENCING. 


301 


The  one-sided  development  noted  concerning 
lawn  tennis,  and  which  it  was  shown  was  a  possi- 
bility in  boxing,  cannot  occnr  in  fencing  if  it  is 
studied  under  a  teacher,  as  already  stated.  While 
one  shoulder  may  be  higher  than  the  other  when 
the  foil  is  in  hand,  fencing  lessons  are  always  given 
with  both  the  right  and  left  hands  holding  the  foil. 
In  that  way,  even  when   practiced  without  other 


BROADSWORD. 

exercises,  it  does  not  abnormally  develop  one 
member  or  set  of  muscles  at  the  expense  of  others 
just  as  important. 

Fencing  has  a  halo  of  respectability  about  it 
which  boxing,  with  or  without  gloves,  or  wrestling 
never  had.  A  fencer  has  never  been  warned  of  the 
bad  company  or  the  low  surroundings  which  his  art 
fosters.  It  has  had  only  the  most  aristocratic  fol- 
lowing.   It  is  a  military  sport  and  of  high  standing. 


302     ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

Fencing  to-day  properly  includes  more  than  the 
handling  of  the  foil,  now  useless  for  warlike  ends. 
For  instance,  for  practical  purposes  to  army  men, 
and  to  others  for  exercise,  its  drill  is  adapted  to 
broadsword  exercises,  in  which  both  a  cut  and 
draw,  as  well  as  a  thrust,  is  a  necessity. 

The  art  of  broadsword  is  learned  as  single  stick, 
which  is  to  the  sabre  what  the  foil  is  to  the  rapier. 
All  of  these  drills,  to  which  may  be  added  bayonet 
work  and  bouts  at  the  old  quarter-staif,  make 
excellent  exercises  in  the  same  general  lines  as 
fencing.  i 


Archery. 


XV. 
Archery. 

Certain  pastimes  have  from  certain  causes  had 
their  day  and  generation  and  gone  the  way  of  all 
flesh.  Noticeably  so,  the  days  of  croquet,  as  a 
national  occupation,  are  numbered,  nor  is  its  loss 
to  be  regretted.  It  was  the  quarrelsome  game  par 
excellence — a  sad  game.  Its  only  redeeming  feature 
was  that  in  its  pure  form  it  was  played  in  the  open 
air.  But  against  this  advantage  was  to  be  consid- 
ered the  great  disadvantage  of  a  stooping  position, 
increased  to  a  greater  extent  as  the  players  ap- 
proached the  character  of  experts.  This  stooping 
position,  in  the  case  of  ladies  wearing  corsets,  as 
they  usually  did  when  playing,  caused  pressure 
upon  bodily  organs  which  are  very  sensitive  and 
easily  injured  [see  Fig.  54].  In  addition,  it  became 
a  one  arm  and  one  hand  game,  right  or  left,  as  the 
player  was  accustomed,  which  preferred  arm  was 
the  only  one  used.  The  muscular  effort  required 
was  very  slight,  hardly  counting  as  exercise. 

In  place  of  the  sad  game  of  croquet  on  an  open 
lawn,  substitute  the  manly  (for  manly  it  is  despite 
of  popular  ideas)  pastime  of  archery,  a  pastime 
performed  in  an  erect  position,  and  an  exercise  for 
many  important  muscles  of  the  body  at  one  and 

20  (305) 


306      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

the  same  time,  and  the  change  can  give  only  advan- 
tage. Why  such  a  noble  and  interesting  sport 
as  archery  has  been  suffered  to  decline,  notwith- 
standing spasmodic  attempts  to  keep  it  fully  alive, 
it  is  hard  to  explain.  It  is  probably  for  the  same 
reason  that  sensible  and  healthful  fashions  in  dress 
decline  and  are  succeeded  by  harmful  ones. 

Aristotle  has  said  that  shooting  (with  the  bow) 
of  all  other  recreations  was  the  most  honest  and 
gave  the  least  occasion  to  have  naughtiness  joined 
unto  it.     The  description  still  holds  good. 

This  art  is  also  of  the  greatest  antiquity.  Wit- 
ness the  conversation  between  Isaac  and  Esau  con- 
cerning it:  "  Now,  therefore,  take,  I  pray  you,  thy 
weapons,  thy  quiver  and  thy  bow,  and  go  out  to 
the  field,  and  take  me  some  venison,"  was  the  com- 
mand of  Isaac.  Chinese  history  mentions  it  as 
existing  countless  ages  ago. 

Archery  is  not  a  sport  beneath  the  notice  of  male 
athletes,  for  its  feats  require  both  strength,  endur- 
ance and  skill.  At  the  same  time  by  varying  the 
conditions  it  can  be  made  a  most  suitable  occupa- 
tion for  women*  and  girls,  and  can  thus  add  the 
pleasures  of  pleasant  mixed  society  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  sport  itself.  The  erect  attitude  of  the 
archer  goes  a  long  way  toward  making  it  a  health- 
ful exercise.  A  person  unconsciously  often  acquires 
a  habit  of  assuming  the  position  used  in  his  favorite 
occupation  on  account  of  the  incessant  practice. 


'n-^v>!>>^j^?>%h^'%a^''AL '.  wr  ft^Jb''""'^^'«:ai"  .";«'«>  •■•4;^^'X'^<mm£!Mmm&..  ■'fmm  mmmiMmsi¥^.''i-'i^  •^ms^wM 


FIG.  49. — DRAWING  the;   BOW, 


ARCHERY.  307 

The  acquired  stoop  of  a  cycle  rider  is  a  case  in 
point.  But  if  an  archer  takes  his  accustomed 
position  he  is  unconsciously  assuming  one  which 
is  not  only  the  most  healthy  and  natural,  but  the 
most  graceful  in  man  or  woman  that  can  be 
acquired,  and  to  gain  which  alone  he  would  be 
willing  to  devote  hours  of  practice. 

The  life  model  in  Fig.  49  is  graceful  and  much 
more  correct,  though  less  artistic,  than  the  figure  of 
a  well-known  actress,  which  may  be  seen  in  a  print 
now  sold  in  the  shops.  The  latter  is  in  character 
and  holds  a  beautifully  drawn  bow.  The  play  of 
the  muscles  is  interesting,  the  figure  is  well  pro- 
portioned, the  face  is  handsome  and  the  general 
effect  is  good.  But  the  actress  is  not  an  archer. 
The  arrow  points  strongly  to  the  left,  is  in  fact  in 
profile,  so  to  speak,  while  the  full  face  of  the 
figure  looks  straight  at  the  spectator  across,  not 
along,  the  arrow.  It  would  be  small  wonder  if  the 
arrow  missed  the  mark. 

Archery  brings  into  play  the  muscles  of  both 
hands  and  both  arms  at  one  and  the  same  time, 
using  unusual  muscles  and  in  unusual  position.  It 
also  uses  the  muscles  of  the  shoulders,  the  chest, 
the  back  and  the  legs.  The  left  hand,  apparently 
of  little  service,  holds  the  bow  with  the  grip  of  a 
vise.  The  skill  lies  in  the  difficult  feat  of  holding 
that  hand  steady  under  strain.  Women  particularly 
need  the  exercise  of  arm  and  chest  muscles  which 


308      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

archery  gives.  In  archery  the  muscles  may  be 
exercised  as  powerfully  or  as  slightly  as  may  be 
desired,  according  to  the  strength  of  the  bow  used 
or  the  length  of  the  shot.  A  person  of  delicate 
physique  can  attempt  the  art  without  harm,  and  go 
as  far  as  he  can  stand  it.  Both  the  force  employed 
and  the  amount  of  shock  experienced  when  the 
shaft  is  let  go  can  be  governed.  The  archer  also 
instinctively  draws  in  a  full,  deep  breath  every  time 
he  draws  his  bow,  thus  expanding  his  lungs  to  the 
utmost  and  gaining  the  end  of  all  exercise,  the 
inhalation  of  a  large  quantity  of  pure  outdoor  air. 

The  muscular  movements  found  in  club  or  dumb- 
bell work,  in  boxing  or  fencing,  or  in  rowing,  are 
all  to  be  found  in  archery.  On  the  other  hand, 
certain  objectionable  features  of  all  of  these  cannot 
be  found  in  archery.  An  archer  is  an  all-round 
athlete.  His  physical  powers  have  been  brought 
under  perfect  control.  His  biceps,  on  which  all 
so-called  athletes  count  so  much,  may  or  may  not 
show  up  as  well  as  those  of  the  expert  boxer,  but 
his  arm  muscles  and  joints  are  sure  to  be  supple. 
He  has  full  chest,  straight  back,  firm  legs,  a  strong 
muscular  neck  with  a  well-poised  head.  His  motions 
are  quick,  easy  and  graceful. 

To  ladies  the  sport  offers  as  its  reward  well- 
rounded  forms,  with  powerful  vitality,  pure  blood 
and  pure  complexion,  due  to  perfect  health,  and 
that    more    than   anything   else    due    to   open-air 


ARCHERY.  309 

exercise,  deep  breathing  and  a  chance  for  sun  and 
air  to  get  their  work  in. 

Considered  as  an  exercise  for  a  strong  man,  it  is 
by  no  means  a  feat  to  be  despised  to  bend  and  keep 
steady  a  six  foot  man's  bow,  requiring  the  exertion 
of  from  fifty  to  ninety  pounds  of  force,  with  the 
arms  in  the  raised  position  which  alone  brings  into 
play  the  many  muscles  employed. 

As  an  exciting  occupation,  without  being  un- 
duly so,  archery  can  give  much  pleasure,  particu- 
larly when  after  long  practice  one  is  able  to  hit  the 
gold. 

Archery  is  generally  considered  only  a  system  of 
shooting  at  a  mark,  with  inaccurate  and  mediaeval 
appliances,  in  the  same  way  that  a  boy  may  aim 
at  a  mark  with  his  pea  shooter.  To  a  limited 
extent  it  is  shooting  at  a  mark,  but  the  mark  may 
be  anything  you  please.  If  the  lesser  animals 
must  die  for  the  sport  of  man,  the  mark  may  be 
any  living  thing  whatever  of  that  kind.  The  shot 
may  be  just  as  accurate  as  if  from  a  gun  and  can 
show  far  more  skill  and  have  much  more  of  sports- 
manship about  it.  A  pot-fisher,  slaughtering  fish 
by  thousands  in  a  fish  wheel,  is  not  counted  as 
much  of  a  sportsman  as  he  who  fishes  for  one  at  a 
time.  In  place  of  catching  and  killing  by  mechan- 
ical means  he  shows  his  skill  in  landing  a  single 
lively  specimen  with  very  delicate  apparatus,  and 
he  is  therefore  more  highly  thought  of.     There  is 


310      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

no  great  skill  shown  in  covering  perhaps  nine 
square  yards  of  surface  with  hundreds  of  shot,  in 
which  space  somewhere  a  bird  may  be  at  rest  or 
flying.  But  if  that  same  bird  must  be  reached 
with  a  single  shaft,  at  perhaps  a  greater  distance, 
the  sport  is  not  more  boyish^  but  from  the  greater 
skill  required  is  more  worthy  of  a  man. 

There  is  a  certain  amount  of  exercise,  advanta- 
geous of  course  because  in  the  open  air,  in  tramp- 
ing around,  carrying  a  heavy  gun,  but  there  is 
none  in  raising  it  to  fire.  All  that  is  necessary  is 
steadiness  of  aim  and  that  to  a  much  more  limited 
extent  than  is  required  in  archery.  The  gun  once 
in  position,  the  work  is  as  well  done  if  a  child  pull 
the  trigger.  The  powder  will  not  carry  further  for 
a  man's  strength.  When  it  comes  to  supplying 
the  strength — when  the  success  of  a  shot  depends 
on  the  amount  of  personal  strength  given  to  the 
movement,  to  say  nothing  of  steadiness  of  muscle, 
fine  judgment  and  experience,  the  feat  is  far  more 
worthy  of  notice. 

If  we  were  to  grant  that  the  sport  were  childish, 
that  would  be  no  reason  why  it  could  not  be  used 
more  generally.  We  have  seen  the  day  when 
strong,  hearty  men,  learned  and  intellectual  men 
also,  have  gone  crazy  over  the  childish  game  of 
croquet. 

Again,  the  noise  of  firearms  is  an  objection.  Not 
only  does  it  frighten  away  game,  but  it  has  an  ill 


ARCHERY.  311 

effect  on  the  sportsman  himself.  He  may  say  he 
does  not  mind  it,  bnt  the  constant  recurrence  of  the 
shock  cannot  but  be  detrimental  to  the  nervous 
system,  particularly  to  such  a  nervous  race  as  we 
are.  We  need  nerve  tonics — nerve  soothers.  It 
cannot  be  claimed  that  constant  noise,  even  when 
we  are  used  to  it  or  prepared  for  it,  is  at  all 
soothing  to  the  nerves,  though  we  may  train  our- 
selves not  to  mind  it.  Another  advantaofe  is  that 
the  constant  danger  to  the  sportsman  and  others 
alike  from  firearms  does  not  exist  with  the  more 
primitive  weapon. 

As  to  accuracy,  even  in  these  days  of  accurate 
firearms,  the  expert  handler  of  a  bow,  savage  or 
otherwise,  can  show  as  much,  and  all  by  personal 
skill,  which  is  more  to  be  proud  of 

In  regard  to  health  fulness,  who  ever  heard  of  an 
old-time  huntsman  or  goddess,  both  users  of  the 
bow,  who  was  not  always  described  as  a  person  of 
long  life;  and  indeed  statistics,  so  far  as  humanity 
is  concerned,  show  that  the  idea  is  in  accordance 
with  the  truth. 

For  purposes  of  friendly  competition  in  skill,  on 
lawn  with  ladies,  there  is  no  recreation  like  archer\\ 
In  any  sport,  to  keep  up  interest,  we  must  try  for  a 
certain  degree  of  excellence.  This  can  be  obtained 
in  archery  without  hard  work.  Every  hour  of 
practice  is  so  much  pleasure  and  it  can  be  had  in 
the  company  of  congenial  fellows. 


312      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

Archery  is  a  beautiful  pastime.  Compare  an 
archery  gathering  with  a  similar  one  at,  say,  a 
pigeon-shooting  match,  with  all  its  attendant  noise, 
smoke  and  confusion,  in  which  proper  women  could 
not  and  should  not  take  part. 

According  to  the  advice  of  Mr.  Maurice  Thomp- 
son, the  greatest  living  exponent  of  archery,  when 
tired  of  shooting  at  a  target,  the  archer  should  try 
at  a  straight  white  wand  stuck  in  the  earth,  the  old- 
time  target,  difficult  to  hit,  but  the  accomplishment 
can  readily  be  acquired.  Or  if  a  semblance  of  bird 
life  is  preferred,  a  target  made  of  a  rubber  ball  sus- 
pended by  a  string  from  a  tree  bough  gives  excellent 
practice.  Or  if  one  prefers  live  game  and  must 
slaughter,  there  is  the  game  of  rovers,  shooting  at 
any  object  which  comes  along,  which  may  be 
selected  in  turn  by  the  players  as  they  wander, 
which  may  be  a  bird,  a  rabbit,  a  stone,  a  tree,  a 
hen,  or  a  toad.  This  gives  all  the  gusto  of  hunting 
without  its  hardships. 

While  working  at  gymnasium  machines  so  many 
hours  daily,  one  often  wishes  he  had  a  book  to 
while  away  the  time  while  exercising,  to  give  his 
mind  some  employment  as  well.  But  if  in  place 
of  using  the  roller-weight  for  the  wrist  muscles,  or 
the  weighted  head  pull  for  the  muscles  of  the  back 
and  the  neck  and  an  erect  carriage  of  the  head,  or 
a  machine  for  the  biceps,  you  try  simple  archery, 
you  will  get  the  same  thing  with  mental  recreation, 


ARCHERY.  313 

Watch  an  expert  pull  his  bow.  His  biceps  and 
shoulder  muscles  will  roll  up  into  balls,  his  head 
straightens.  The  effort  is  in  both  arms  at  once, 
but  not  for  so  long  a  time  as  to  produce  strain. 

After  the  invention  of  firearms,  their  greater 
ease  of  use,  more  sure  execution  and  greater  deadli- 
ness,  without  the  necessity  for  skill  however,  threw 
back  archery,  which  had  been  practical,  into  being 
a  sport  only.  Hence,  later  came  the  idea  that  it 
was  useless  practically,  a  mediaeval  thing.  But  in 
the  opinion  of  many,  the  practice  of  archery,  even 
as  a  fashionable  recreation,  has  given  to  many  dis- 
tinguished ladies  in  past  years,  when  the  sport  was 
fashionable,  their  fine  physique,  by  which  they  en- 
dowed their  descendants  with  plump,  muscular 
forms  and  healthful  looking  faces.  To  it  many  an 
old-time  dame  can  attribute  her  ability  to  sit  com- 
fortably and  gracefully  without  the  adjunct  of  a 
stuffed  chair-back.  A  strong  back  is  not  to  be 
despised  even  though  it  may  not  be  put  to  any 
other  use  than  gardening,  when  it  is  very  desirable. 
As  Charles  Dudley  Warner  has  said,  for  such  use, 
a  cast-iron  back  with  a  hinge  in  the  middle  is  pre- 
ferable to  the  one  in  general  use. 

Happy  the  family  who  live  in  the  suburbs  where 
the  sport  can  be  indulged  in  handily.  Happy  the 
city  belle,  who,  when  tired  of  city  gayeties  does 
not  try  to  keep  up  her  fashionable  dissipation  at 
seaside  watering   places,  but  retires  to  a  country 


314      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

summer  home.  Happier  still  she  is  when,  finding 
nothing  to  amuse  her  in  these  surroundings,  she 
uses  brain  enough  to  think  of  the  recreation  of 
archery,  finds  it  just  the  thing  for  the  place,  and 
the  return  so  excellent  as  to  give  her  a  new  zest  for 
life,  and  bring  her  back  to  the  city  home  in  winter 
a  new  being. 

In  this,  as  in  all  sports,  excess  is  to  be  avoided, 
but  the  excess  is  little  likely  to  occur.  The  proper 
weight  or  strength  of  bow  is  to  be  considered. 
The  use  of  a  strong  bow  should  be  acquired  gradu- 
ally as  the  strength  develops.  A  man's  bow  is 
usually  six  feet,  a  woman's  bow  five  feet  long. 
Fifty  pounds  is  a  good  pull  for  a  man's  bow,  or 
thirty  for  a  woman's,  with  corresponding  lengths 
of  arrows.  There  are  several  good  treatises  on 
archery  which  give  all  technical  details. 

The  usual  drawback  to  archery  for  most  people 
is  the  expense.  If  a  person  lays  out  to  have  a 
complete  fancy  outfit,  the  expense  is  not  light. 
That  kind  of  an  outfit  is  well  enough  for  those 
who  can  afford  it,  but  those  who  cannot  are  not 
necessarily  crowded  out  of  the  field.  Many  an 
amateur  photographer,  with  plenty  of  money  but 
no  brains,  buys  a  perfect  outfit  of  camera  and 
every  appliance,  but  his  results  in  pictures  do  not 
amount  to  much;  while  much  of  the  finest  ama- 
teur work  is  turned  out  with  some  of  the  most  un- 
couth, dilapidated  and  home-made  apparatus. 


ARCHERY. 


315 


In  archery,  while  it  is  quite  an  art  to  manufac- 
ture perfect  appliances,  the  acquirement  of  that  art 
is  not  beyond  a  skillful  person.  There  are  manuals 
which  give  full  directions,  and  directions  that  can 
be  followed,  which  is  not  usually  the  case  in  similar 
amateur  work.  The  directions,  joined  to  prac- 
tical experience,  can  give  very  good  results  indeed. 
The  most  expert  present-day  archers  are  Indians, 
and  they  are  not  dependent  on  expensive  shops  for 
their  supplies;  yet  we  look  down  on  the  manual 
skill  of  the  poor  Indian.  A  trial  at  manufacturing, 
at  all  events,  will  not  be  amiss  in  training  the  hand, 
eye  and  judgment. 


Field  Sports 


POSITION   OF  MUSCI.es   IN  PUTTING  THE  SHOT— BEFORE 
DELIVERY. 


XVI. 

Field  Sports,  etc. 

Under  the  title  of  field  sports  we  cla.ss  what  are 
generally  known  as  track  athletics,  or  games  which 
have  from  time  immemorial  been  used  for  trials 
of  strength  or  skill,  such  as  formed  the  "  Scottish 
Games  "  of  the  Highlands.  These  track  athletics, 
wherever  they  are  carried  on,  normally  out  of  doors 
in  suitable  weather,  or  indoors  in  winter,  afford  a 
wide  field  for  the  individual  endeavor  of  certain 
athletes.  With  the  exception  of  the  tug-of-war, 
there  is  nothing  in  them  of  team  work  or  united 
exercise.  They  are  now  indulged  in  by  collegians, 
by  school-boys,  by  athletic  club  men,  and  by  others 
generally  without  organization.  They  afford  partic- 
ular scope  for  such  as  are  not  strong  enough  to  play 
foot-ball,  are  not  successful  at  games  like  cricket  or 
base-ball,  cannot  afford  expensive  amusements,  and 
yet  wish  some  exercise  in  the  nature  of  a  game. 
The  amateur  who  engages  in  these  sports  should 
take  care  that  they  are  used  as  amusements  and  not 
made  too  much  of  a  business.  Very  often  off'-hand 
sports,  gotten  up  almost  on  the  spur  of  the  minute, 
have  much  more  value  and  give  much  more  amuse- 
ment than  such  as  are  planned  as  great  events. 

(319) 


320      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

The  various  pursuits  which  are  usually  classed 
under  the  head  of  track  athletics  include  running 
and  walking,  not  for  pleasure,  which  has  been 
already  considered  as  Pedestrianism,  nor  yet  the 
solitary  gadding  around  a  gymnasium  track  for  so 
many  hours  as  an  indoor  constitutional  (with 
motion  of  muscles,  it  is  true,  but  no  recreation), 
but  running  or  walking  in  contests  against  time  or 
a  competitor.  They  also  include  track  contests  on 
cycles,  which  we  will  not  again  consider,  jumping, 
pole  vaulting,  throwing  of  the  hammer  or  of 
weights,  and  the  like. 

Possibly  more  interest  centres  about  running  in 
various  forms  than  about  any  other  of  these  sports. 
A  race  between  two  men  is  always  of  interest,  and 
it  is  a  thing  that  anyone  can  understand.  To  the 
contestant,  also,  it  is  interesting  from  the  fact  that 
he  wins,  if  he  does,  from  personal  skill,  and  not  by 
the  help  of  apparatus.  All  the  stock  in  trade  re- 
quired is  a  good  pair  of  shoes  and  a  very  scant 
costume,  which  is  proportionately  as  cheap.  Run- 
ning includes  "  sprinting,"  or  the  running  of  short 
distances  at  top  speed,  not  over  about  three  hundred 
yards,  in  one  spurt  or  "  sprint,"  such  as  could  not 
be  kept  up  over  a  longer  distance,  as,  for  instance, 
a  quarter  of  a  mile.  A  quarter-mile  race,  perhaps, 
partakes  more  of  the  nature  of  long-distance  run- 
ning, though  it  differs  also  from  that.  In  sprinting, 
the  front  muscles  of  the  thigh,  which  bring  the  leg 


FIELD  SPORTS,   ETC.  321 

forward,  are  the  most  important  for  speed,  as  the 
rapid  repetition  of  the  strides  is  the  thing  desired. 
In  long-distance  running  the  chief  strain  conies  on 
the  back  muscles  of  the  thigh,  which  affect  propul- 
sion. To  run  a  half  mile,  mile,  or  longer  distance, 
requires  the  husbanding  of  strength  and  the  putting 
forth  in  a  proper  manner  of  just  enough  of  it  to 
accomplish  the  whole  distance  at  the  best  uniform 
speed.  The  short  spurt  or  "  dash  "  is  run  at  the 
rate  of  thirty  feet  in  a  second,  which  speed  alone 
would  create  interest.  In  such  bursts  of  speed  as 
the  dash,  the  skill  is  as  much  in  getting  away,  or 
starting,  as  in  the  pace.  The  good  starter  gets  up 
his  stride  at  once,  whereas  the  novice  is  not  fairly 
under  way  for  several  feet  after  he  has  left  the 
mark. 

Track  walking  requires  an  expert  judge  at  times 
to  distinguish  it  from  running.  The  gait  is  not  at 
all  the  same  muscular  movement  which  the  health 
stroller  makes  use  of  when  he  tramps  from  ten  to 
twenty  miles  into  the  country.  Compared  with 
pedestrianism,  the  competition  walking  gait  is  a 
very  unfamiliar  proceeding.  Strictly  speaking  the 
difference  between  a  walk  and  a  run,  is  that  in 
walking  the  heel  strikes  the  ground  first,  and  some 
part  of  one  foot  is  always  touching  the  ground.  In 
running,  the  toes  strike  first,  and  there  is  a  period 
in  the  stride  when  both  the  runner's  feet  are  off  the 
ground.     The  judge  looks  for  the  faintest  suspicion 

21 


322       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

of  a  limp,  which  shows  that  the  leg  is  not  entirely 
straightened  at  each  step,  which  is  necessary  to 
make  the  heel  strike  first  and  to  constitute  a  walk. 

In  the  track  walk,  the  gait  seems  the  most  intense 
exaggeration  of  every  muscular  movement.  The 
man  who  can  walk  a  mile  in  seven  minutes  (and  it 
only  takes  about  two  minutes  longer  to  walk  a  mile 
with  such  a  gait  than  to  run  it)  seems  to  try  to  twist 
his  spinal  column  apart  just  above  the  hips.  The 
rapidity  can  be  appreciated  if  one  tries  to  walk  along- 
side of  him.     A  trot  will  hardly  keep  up  with  him. 

Fig.  1 6,  under  the  head  of  Pedestrianism,  shows 
the  formation  of  a  trackwalker;  Fig.  17,  also  under 
the  same  head,  that  of  a  sprinter,  short-distance 
runner,  or  dash  performer;  and  Fig.  18  shows  a 
longer-distance  runner. 

In  very  long-distance  track-walking  contests, 
such  as  six-day  matches,  still  another  gait  is  al- 
lowed. As  a  person  could  not  keep  up  a  run  for 
any  length  of  time,  with  any  advantage  in  the  end, 
he  is  allowed  to  go  as  he  pleases  without  restriction. 
The  majority  of  such  contestants  adopt  a  kind  of 
jog  trot,  which  for  such  distances  yields  the  great- 
est results  with  the  least  fatigue.  Walking  contests 
are  not  so  interesting  to  the  spectator  as  running 
contests,  for  the  reason  that  from  the  appearance  of 
the  walking  gait  adopted,  one  instinctively  thinks 
that  the  contestants  can  hardly  be  putting  forth 
their  greatest  effort. 


FIELD  SPORTS,  ETC.  323 

Running  is  combined  with  jumping  in  the  hurdle 
race,  in  which  ahnost  any  athlete  can  join.  It  does 
not  require  an  expert  jumper,  as  the  hurdles  are 
only  about  three  and  a  half  feet  high.  The  skill 
is  shown  in  clearing  them  as  closely  as  possible 
without  grazing  them,  and  so  saving  space  and 
time.  The  expert  clears  the  hurdles  without  a 
break,  as  if  they  were  but  an  exaggerated  step, 
taking  them  on  the  most  favorable  part  of  the  step 
for  the  rise. 

In  jumping,  we  have  the  high  jump,  the  long  or 
broad  jump  and  pole  vaulting,  all  graceful  move- 
ments. 

A  jumper's  breathing  apparatus  is  well  developed. 
It  is  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  a  short-distance 
sprinter.  But  it  is  not  so  extensive,  nor  of  the 
same  form  as  would  be  noticed  in  any  long-distance 
runner,  for  the  jumper's  specialty  does  not  need  the 
staying  power. 

In  jumping  exercises  a  sudden  explosive  effort  is 
required,  rather  than  prolonged  endurance.  Hence 
it  is  not  strange  that  in  the  picture  of  the  Yale 
student  [Fig.  50],  who  was  a  jumper,  the  peculiar 
formation  of  the  upper  part  of  the  chest  is  observed. 
This  is  strongly  in  contrast  to  the  more  general 
development  of  chest  noticed  in  the  long-distance 
runner  [Fig.  18].  This  jumper  [Fig.  50]  was  an 
expert  at  pole  vaulting,  broad  jumping  and  the 
running  high  jump. 


324        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

Putting  the  shot  or  hammer,  or  the  fifty-six 
pound  weight,  is  an  exercise  for  muscles  only,  with 
which  strong,  heavy-motioned  men  may  amuse 
themselves  and  expend  their  extra  energies.  In 
the  lighter  forms  these  sports  are  recommended  by 
physicians  for  certain  people  for  whom  they  would 
find  running,  or  sports  including  it,  the  opposite  of 
beneficial. 

The  tug-of-war  is  a  sport  for  track  or  the  gymna- 
sium, in  which,  as  stated,  there  is  co-operation,  but 
to  only  a  limited  extent.  This  resembles  in  some 
things  a  boat  race.  In  it  the  individual  sustains  the 
utmost  stress  for  a  short  period,  but  not  with  as 
great  regard  for  the  co-operation  of  his  fellows  as  in 
rowing.  It  requires  the  art  of  putting  forth  all 
one's  energies  to  accomplish  a  given  result. 

Among  the  same  class  of  sports,  but  not  strictly 
track  athletics,  though  partaking  of  the  same  nature 
and  needing  the  same  requirements  in  the  athlete 
as  long-distance  running  and  jumping,  but  under 
varying  circumstances,  may  be  mentioned  cross- 
country running,  steeple-chasing  on  foot,  hare-and- 
hounds,  or  paper  chasing,  which  while  not  so  well 
adapted  for  exhibition  of  skill  is  of  great  interest 
to  the  participants.  Many  school  and  other  clubs 
exist  for  the  practice  of  this  sport.  Its  participants 
must  be  steady  of  wind  and  limb. 

There  are  other  sports  which  might  be  mentioned 
here  as  well  as  anywhere,  though  they  are  not  track 


ii>&^ 


«dS 


FIG.    50. 


32G       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

athletics.  One  of  these  is  the  playing  of  quoits, 
descended  from  the  ancient  "discus."  If  the  mis- 
sile is  not  too  heavy,  the  play  gives  strength  to 
arms  and  shoulders,  quickness  of  sight  and  a  capa- 
bility for  measuring  distances. 

Somewhat  resembling  quoits,  but  a  greater  game 
in  every  way,  is  curling. 

Curling  is  an  ancient  sport,  which  has  always 
been  free  from  the  taint  of  grossness  and  brutality 
which  accompanies  nearly  all  the  ancient  pastimes. 
It  furnishes  a  game  for  winter  and  cold  climates 
similar  to  that  of  the  home  of  Curling,  Scotland. 

While  curling  has  been  called  quoits  on  ice,  it 
has  also  been  called  billiards  on  ice,  as  golf  has 
been  called  croquet  magnified  and  deified.  One  of 
its  many  points  of  excellence  is  that  it  is  a  game 
of  great  skill.  It  is  also  usually  played  in  such 
exhilarating  outside  air  as  makes  breathing  a 
luxury,  and  at  a  season  when  we  are  apt  to  neglect 
outdoor  exercise.  It  keeps  its  participants  just  as 
cool  or  just  as  warm  as  they  wish.  To  play  it,  one 
need  not  incur  any  great  expenditure,  either  for 
outfit  or  good  fellowship.  It  needs  only  the  fair 
strength  of  an  average  man  and  never  special 
"  training."  An  athlete  has  no  advantages  over  an 
average  man.  It  is  played  against  the  forces  of 
nature  rather  than  the  foes  of  the  arena.  It  has 
taken  good  hold  in  America,  both  in  Canada  and 
the    United    States,    wherever    the    weather    will 


FIELD  SPORTS,  ETC.  327 

permit.  While  it  is  a  game  of  skill,  with  the  ele- 
ments of  chance  largely  eliminated,  it  is  a  game 
which  men  may  play  and  play  well  up  to  an 
advanced  age. 

The  curler  takes  account  of  the  angle  of  the  ice- 
bed  due  to  rapid  changes  of  temperature  during 
freezing,  of  the  constant  variation  produced  by  the 
action  of  the  sun's  rays  or  by  keen  winds  during 

? 

? 


1 


the  game,  of  the  bewildering  change  in  the  ice-bed 
during  flurries  of  snow,  and  of  the  variable  porous- 
ness of  the  granite  used  for  curling  stones.  He 
also  needs  a  knowledge  of  human  nature.  All  of 
these  things  and  more  are  matters  for  judgment, 
skill  and  experience.  Science  is  required  in  the 
manipulation  of  the  stones,  weighing  from  thirty- 
five  to  fifty  pounds  each.     The  player  uses  science 


328      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

to  judge  of  the  quality  of  these  stones,  to  apply 
just  the  right  turn  or  twist,  both  inward  and  out- 
ward, which  it  is  necessary  to  give  them,  to  meas- 
ure the  distance  with  the  eye  and  the  force  with 
the  nerves,  and  to  manage  the  broom  with  just 
enough  nicety  and  trick  as  to  leave  the  right 
quantity  of  snow  or  ice  powder  in  the  path  of  the 
stone  to  retard  the  shot  as  occasion  may  require. 

The  game  has  undoubtedly  a  great  future.  It 
only  needs  to  be  known  to  be  appreciated,  and 
when  once  known  it  seldom  loses  its  interest.  Once 
a  curler,  always  a  curler,  is  the  experience  of  the 
past.  The  game  is  simplicity  itself.  It  never  needs 
a  change  of  rules.  It  is  the  same  to-day  as  in  past 
ages,  and  is  as  near  perfection  as  possible. 

Those  who  have  read  "  The  Little  Minister  "  will 
remember  the  great  hold  which  the  game  had  on 
the  good  doctor,  to  say  nothing  of  the  clergyman 
of  the  Established  Church.  Nothing  would  tempt 
the  doctor  to  agree  to  the  clergyman's  proposal  that 
he  should  hold  church  office,  but  he  put  the  ques- 
tion up  as  his  most  valuable  stake  in  a  game, 
intending  if  he  lost  to  endure  all  the  distasteful 
discomforts  of  a  vestryman.  The  doctor  could  not 
resist  the  attractive  sound  of  the  stones,  even  with 
the  conscientious  Auld  Licht  Little  Minister  hang- 
ing to  his  coat  tails,  holding  him  back  and  remind- 
ing him  of  his  duty.  Sunday  the  doctor  considered 
a  lost  day,  because  the  play  could  not  then  go  on, 


FIELD  SPORTS,  ETC,  329 

and  he  horrified  the  lyittle  Minister  by  saying  so. 
The  doctor's  expressed  professional  opinion  was 
that  curling  saved  Jo's  life  after  he,  the  doctor,  had 
given  him  up,  and  that  the  game  was  the  best 
medicine  he  knew  of. 

There  is  another  game  not  known  with  us,  but 
to  practice  which  many  organizations  and  grounds 
exist  elsewhere,  which  is  the  modern  game  of 
Ivawn  Bowls.  This  is  a  sport  well  worth  looking 
into.  Before  going  into  it,  the  sport  of  bowling, 
which  we  do  have,  and  from  which  it  was  derived, 
should  be  disposed  of 

Bowling  as  now  practiced  is  an  indoor  game 
requiring  an  alley,  but  it  was  not  always  so.  The 
outdoor  bowling-green  was  originally  the  scene  of 
a  game  with  balls  and  pins,  which  it  was  quite  dif- 
ficult to  play.  As  altered  long  ago  to  an  indoor 
game  on  an  alley  floor,  it  became  a  simpler  game, 
but  not  so  simple  and  easy  in  practice  as  it  appar- 
ently seems,  for  it  requires  practice  and  patience. 
The  Germans  have  lately  altered  its  entire  character 
by  the  introduction  of  enormous  balls,  so  that  where 
such  are  used  it  becomes  but  a  trial  of  brute  strength. 
Any  one  who  is  strong  enough  to  send  one  of  these 
large  balls  down  the  middle  of  the  alley  is  sure  to 
bring  down  most  of  the  pins.  In  the  outdoor,  and 
in  the  older  forms  of  the  indoor  game,  a  ball  not 
larger  than  a  croquet  ball  was  used,  and  round- 
hand  bowling  was  the  play. 


330      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

Skittles  was  a  variation  of  the  outdoor  game,  in 
which  the  nine  pins  were  placed  >  in  a  diamond- 
shaped  square,  and  the  balls  were  flat  or  cheese- 
shaped,  and  were  thrown. 

In  Dutch  Pins  the  pins  were  more  slender  and 
longer  and  the  centre  pin  higher  than  the  others, 
which  was  called  a  king.  The  aim  was  to  floor  the 
king  without  the  others,  or  the  others  without  the 
king. 

The  American  game  first  used  ten  pins  and 
round  balls,  which  must  be  bowled,  not  thrown. 
There  is  also  the  game  of  Four  Corners,  in  which 
there  are  only  four,  but  much  larger  pins,  the  object 
being  to  knock  down  the  back  pin  only.  Knock- 
emdowns  had  ten  pins  and  a  king.  The  ball  had 
to  be  grounded  somewhere  before  reaching  the 
pins. 

There  is  a  good  modern  game  of  Long  Bowls, 
which  consists  simply  in  bowling  a  comparatively 
small  ball  along  the  ground  for  the  greatest  dis- 
tance in  the  smallest  number  of  turns.  This  was 
the  predecessor  of  the  modern  game  of  L<awn 
Bowls. 

While  alley  "bowling,"  as  we  now  understand 
the  term,  is  a  game  giving  much  exercise  of  muscle 
and  inducing  perspiration,  it  is  wanting  in  variety. 
The  object  is  always  the  same.  It  is  also  quite  a 
violent  exercise.  Lawn  Bowls  is  a  gentler  game. 
It  has  greater  variety,  as  the  play  is  under  varying 


FIELD  SPORTS,  ETC.  331 

conditions  of  distance,  surroundings  and  position. 
The  game  is  cheerful,  sociable  and  conducive  to 
good  fellowship.  One  who  knows,  says  there  is 
nothing  like  it  for  the  merchant  or  banker  as  a 
safety  valve  for  business  pressure. 

The  players  have  two  bowls  each,  which  they 
aim  at  a  movable  ball  of  china  called  the  "jack." 
The  bowls  are  not  made  entirely  round,  but  have  a 
draw  or  "  bias "  caused  by  one-half  being  much 
thinner  than  the  other.  Great  skill  can  be  shown 
in  the  management  of  this  draw,  as  in  the  use  of 
the  "  break  "  of  a  cricket-ball  or  the  "  curve  "  of  a 
base-ball.  The  object  of  the  game  is  to  get  near 
the  jack,  which  can  be  done  in  many  ways,  includ- 
ing the  putting  of  your  opponent's  ball  away  from 
the  jack  or  taking  the  jack  away  from  his  ball. 
The  curves  can  be  put  to  many  ingenious  uses.  It 
is  a  wonder  that  with  the  several  hundreds  of  lawn 
bowl  clubs  that  exist,  some  of  the  players  should 
not  have  found  their  way  to  us  and  have  given  the 
sport  a  start  here. 

In  Spain  to-day  they  play  a  combination  of  this 
lawn  bowls  with  nine  pins,  which  a  modern  traveler 
thus  described: 

"  Bowls  in  Spain,  called  bolos^  is  played  directly 
upon   the   ground,  which  is  usually  prepared   by 


The  illustrations,  "r,awn  Bowls,"  "One  Form  of  House  Boat,"  "Winter 
Training  in  Gymnasium,"  "  The  I^awn  Tennis  Field,"  "An  Ancient  Tennis 
Court,"  "  Shot-Putting  after  Delivery,"  "  Wrestling  at  Cornell  "  and  Fig.  46 
a.re  from  Outing,  by  permission. 


332       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

being  leveled  for  the  purpose.  Wooden  balls  and 
pins  are  used.  The  former,  called  bolas^  are  usually 
not  as  round  as  they  might  be.  The  pins,  called 
bolos^  are  often  hooped  with  iron.  Nine  large  pins 
and  one  small  one  are  used.  The  nine  pins  are 
arranged  to  form  a  square,  with  the  small  one  out- 
side. The  count  is  determined  by  the  number  of 
pins  knocked  down.  When  the  small  one  falls 
alone  it  does  not  count,  but  if  with  others  it  counts 
two.  To  drive  the  ball  between  the  rows  of  pins 
may  also  count  one." 

The  traveler  is  evidently  unaware  that  the  balls 
are  purposely  "  not  as  round  as  they  should  be,"  or 
that  the  erratic  movements  thus  induced  cause  the 
greatest  pleasure  of  the  game,  and  are  what  require 
the  skill  to  play  it. 


i^;j^ 


Outdoor  Life. 


Copyrighted  1893,  by  R.  Ejickemeyer,  Jr. 
Reproduced  by  permission  of  the  Platinotype  Co. 


XVII. 

Outdoor  I^ife. 

There  are  certain  recreations  that  are  beneficial, 
not  so  much  on  account  of  the  bodily  exercise  that 
they  involve,  but  simply  because  they  foster  life  in 
the  open  air.  These  are  particularly  useful  when 
it  is  "  rest  cure  "  that  is  needed. 

Foremost  among  these  recreations  is  the  state  of 
life  which  we  call  "  camping,"  which  in  certain 
cases  will  make  an  old  man  new,  if  he  do  nothing 
whatever  for  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  that  is, 
if  certain  requirements  are  complied  with. 

This  method  of  recreation  is  calculated  to  recu- 
perate the  nervous  energies  wonderfully  which  have 
suffered  from  worry  and  care,  or  too  long  a  pressure 
of  professional  or  business  labor.  To  lay  aside  all 
business,  flee  to  the  wilds  of  the  mountains,  the 
quiet  lake,  the  salt  sea,  the  brook;  to  live  with 
nature,  camp  under  the  sky,  breathe  the  pure  air, 
to  hunt  and  fish,  is  to  do  as  our  forefathers  did 
before  us. 

The  worry  of  business,  from  the  effects  of  which 
many  thousands  are  dying — heart  disease,  brain 
trouble,  nervous  disorders,  dyspepsia,  insomnia, 
and  the  breaking  down  of  various  organs  of  the 

(335) 


336      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

body,  can  be  combatted  by  an  ontdoor  life  such 
as  is  attained  by  camping. 

By  living  in  camp,  care  may  be  forgotten,  the 
mind  be  allowed  to  think  in  new  channels,  and  the 
muscles  made  to  get  used  to  new  habits  of  exercise. 

On  general  principles  it  is  good  to  get  into  the 
open  air  under  all  circumstances.  But  it  does  not 
follow  that  a  man  of  middle  age,  used  to  certain 
comforts,  should  deliberately  put  them  all  aside 
and  "  rough  it  "  to  the  great  detriment  of  comfort 
and  health.  Not  every  one  can  stand  roughing  it, 
particularly  after  a  certain  age.  A  boy  may  go 
into  the  woods,  or  on  a  vacant  lot  at  his  father's 
back  door,  be  his  own  cook,  eat  a  mixture  of  soot 
and  food,  do  without  necessities  for  the  toilet  or 
conveniences  for  a  comfortable  night's  rest,  live  in 
dirty  or  filthy  clothes,  and  make  believe  that  he 
likes  it.  He  may  go  through  it  all  and  still  live, 
but  a  mature  man,  used  to  a  different  mode  of  life, 
will  feel  the  change  very  severely. 

For  boys  who  want  to  camp  properly,  a  way  may 
be  found  at  little  expense  if  they  will  only  take  the 
trouble  to  stiidy  the  question.  Such  young  people 
should  bear  one  thing  in  mind.  It  is  not  advisable 
to  go  into  camp  anywhere  at  all  near  a  large  city. 
The  necessity  for  the  camp  does  not  exist  under 
such  circumstances,  nor  will  it  be  pleasurable  for 
many  reasons.  In  the  wild  woods  or  wilderness 
the  case  is  difierent. 


OUTDOOR  LIFE.  337 

While  the  more  mature  man  will  do  well  not  to 
try  to  do  without  too  many  creature  comforts,  it 
will  be  well  to  take  the  advice  of  experienced 
people  as  to  the  best  way  of  procuring  them.  For 
one  thing,  one  does  not  want  to  do  without  a 
comfortable  bed  of  some  kind.  Without  regular 
and  satisfying  sleep  your  camping  will  be  det- 
rimental. There  are  many  ways  of  procuring 
really  comfortable  beds,  and  yet  of  observing  all 
the  requirements  of  purely  camp  life,  without  hav- 
ing to  take  one's  spring  mattress  or  walnut  bed- 
stead. 

A  person  does  not  want  to  eat  exactly  the  same 
rich  food  which  he  has  been  stuffing  himself  with 
all  the  rest  of  the  year.  The  camper  wants  a  rest, 
a  change;  but  what  food  he  does  want  he  wants 
wholesome  and  good.  A  prime  requisite  is  to  have 
a  cook  along,  and  not  depend  upon  amateur  cook- 
ing such  as  boys  might  stomach;  though  the  cook 
may  be  an  uncouth  but  expert  camp  cook,  and  not 
a  Frenchman  from  a  leading  hotel.  Dependent  on 
amateur  or  volunteer  cooks,  meals  are  apt  to  be 
irregular — a  great  drawback.  Nor  is  there  any 
comfort  in  going  off  from  a  camp  for  a  whole  day 
without  a  lunch,  depending  on  getting  something 
to  eat  on  the  return. 

A  person  who  is  not  used  to  camping  has  a  ten- 
dency to  contract  colds  during  the  early  days  of 
his  stay.     One  preventive  of  this  is  to  wear  woolen 

22 


338      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

underclothing  exclusively,  of  varying  weights  ac- 
cording to  circumstances. 

If  you  wish  to  fill  up  your  time  with  hunting  or 
gunning  while  in  camp,  well  and  good,  if  you 
know  how,  if  you  have  the  chance,  and  it  keeps 
you  exercising  in  the  open  air.  Other  than  that, 
hunting  as  a  healthful  exercise  is  useless,  for  we  are 
not  supposing  that  you  are  a  pot  hunter,  obliged  to 
bag  game  for  the  price  it  will  bring  you.  As  a 
mighty  hunter  nowadays  you  will  need  a  gun, 
but  not  a  revolver,  which  never  hits  any  animal 
but  a  man.  Even  the  gun  need  not  be  pointed  at 
your  fellows  simply  to  prove  that  it  is  not  loaded. 

One  thing  you  do  not  want  to  take  with  you  or 
have  sent  you  if  you  can  avoid  it — your  mail.  Cut 
loose  from  business  and  you  can  attend  to  it  better 
on  your  return. 

Carry  all  conveniences  for  cleanliness  and  com- 
fort in  the  toilet,  and  do  your  share  of  the  camp 
work  willingly,  for  a  camp  can  only  be  successful 
if  methodical,  each  taking  his  part. 

As  an  instance  of  the  benefits  of  camp  life,  even 
to  mature  persons,  many  will  recall  the  fact  that 
during  the  civil  war  men  who  had  long  before 
attained  their  growth  went  into  the  field  and  into 
camp,  returning  home  afterward  with  greatly 
increased  stature;  their  height  having  increased 
considerably,  they  in  fact  having  started  to  grow 
again. 


OUTDOOR  LIFE. 


339 


The  outdoor  amusements  commonly  included  in 
camp  life  in  addition  to  hunting,  varying  accord- 
ing to  where  the  camp  is  situated,  are  fishing  and 
boating,  the  latter  either  as  rowing,  sailing  or 
canoeing;  all  of  which  can  be  had  at  many  places 


without  the  camping,  and  are  valuable  as  outdoor 
amusements  at  any  time. 

We  have  treated  boating  as  an  exercise  sepa- 
rately. Sailing,  independent  of  camp  life,  is  good 
recreation  and  rest,  its  value  mainly  depending  on 
the  outdoor   life   it   involves.     Sailing  is  a  prime 


340      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

rest  cure.  This  pursuit  owes  much  of  its  fascina- 
tiou  to  the  fact  that  its  science  is  practically  infi- 
nite. The  most  experienced  sailor  has  always 
something  new  to  learn  and  is  always  acquiring 
fresh  wrinkles.  Of  all  inanimate  objects,  a  sail 
boat  is  the  most  beloved  of  its  owner.  There  is 
something  almost  human  in  its  ways  and  vagaries. 
The  design  of  the  ablest  craft  can  always  be  im- 
proved on,  which  opens  the  study  of  interesting 
problems.  In  sailing  there  are  so  many  emergen- 
cies in  which  experience  is  required  to  do  just  the 
right  thing  at  the  right  time.  The  beginner  soon 
discovers  that  the  more  he  knows  the  more  he  has 
left  to  learn.  If  he  once  commences  to  acquire  the 
knowledge  of  seamanship  he  will  be  thirsty  for 
more,  and  he  will  never  weary  of  his  favorite  sport 
all  the  days  of  his  life.  If  the  British  model  keel- 
yachts  were  more  generally  adopted  for  pleasure 
sailing  craft,  particularly  in  deeper  waters,  the 
sport  could  be  indulged  in  much  more  safely.  A 
sea  trip  in  yachting,  for  those  whom  it  agrees  with, 
gives  plenty  of  fresh  air.  Steam  yachting,  or  the 
use  of  modern  naphtha  or  electric  craft,  gives  fresh 
air,  but  is  not  so  enjoyable  as  sailing,  though  often 
faster.  In  the  case  of  steam  and  naphtha  there  is 
considerable  unpleasant  smoke  or  odor. 

There  is  one  kind  of  water  craft  that  is  growing 
in  public  favor  with  each  opening  summer,  and 
that  is  the  canoe.     Canoeing  is  a  good  sport  at  all 


TOBOGGANING. 


342      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

times,  involving  at  least  gentle  exercise  as  well. 
The  canoe  is  an  American  boat,  and  canoeing  is  a 
sport  particularly  adapted  to  the  American.  With 
our  innumerable  water-ways,  whether  river,  lake  or 
landlocked  bay,  almost  all  the  American  people 
may  have  the  opportunity  of  sharing  in  this  most 
enjoyable  of  pastimes,  if  they  will  but  use  the 
proper  precautions.  The  canoe  is  light,  swift, 
graceful  and  easily  managed.  The  occupant  has 
the  advantage  of  looking  in  the  direction  he  is 
going.  Boats  have  been  said  to  be  for  work,  canoes 
for  pleasure.  They  seem  fragile  and  dangerous 
things,  but  the  sport  seems  more  dangerous  than  it 
really  is.  One  reason  for  this  is  that  the  canoeist 
usually  makes  sure  that  he  is  a  good  swimmer 
beforehand.  Another  is  that  if  a  man  keeps  his 
head,  the  canoe  is  much  harder  to  upset  than  a 
shell  or  even  some  other  boats.  As  long  as  a  man 
keeps  his  seat  in  a  canoe,  which  brings  the  centre 
of  gravity  below  the  water  line,  the  canoe  cannot 
upset.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  a  word  to  the  wise  is 
sufficient,  and  as  to  the  foolish,  there  is  little  or  no 
hope  for  them.  As  an  exercise,  canoeing  can  be 
combined  with  swimming,  and  together  they  should 
bring  the  whole  muscular  system  into  good  work- 
ing order  in  a  very  short  time.  That  is  a  combina- 
tion worth  trying. 

For  canoeing,  the  paddle  in  preference  to  the  sail 
should  be  the  motive  power,  not  only  on  account 


OUTDOOR  LIFE.  343 

of  the  exercise  but  in  the  nature  of  things.  A  keel 
boat  and  open  water  is  for  sailing.  The  canoe  is 
for  smaller  surfaces  of  water,  for  shallow  depths, 
for  overhanging  boughs. 

Says  the  Boston  Advertiser  : 

"  Canoeing  is  easy  to  learn,  at  least  canoeing  with 
a  paddle.  Sailing  a  canoe  is  decidedly  a  gymnastic 
exercise,  and  would  better  be  left  to  the  young 
athletes.  But  to  follow  the  old  precept,  '  Paddle 
your  own  canoe,'  the  same  qualities  are  required 
which  are  necessary  when  the  injunction  is  taken 
in  a  metaphorical  sense.  To  know  what  he  wants 
to  do,  and  to  go  and  do  it,  is  the  best  possible  idea 
for  a  canoeist  to  bear  in  mind.  Albeit  he  must  do 
it  gently. 

"  A  canoe  is  considered  by  many  to  be  more 
decidedly  feminine  than  any  other  craft.  She  is 
coy.  She  has  pretty  little  coquettish  ways,  and  she 
has  a  store  of  perpetual  surprises.  '  Beware,  take 
care,  she  is  fooling  thee.' 

"  Perhaps  because  she  is  a  kindred  spirit,  the 
canoe  is  particularly  adapted  to  woman's  use.  A 
canoe  must  be  made  a  friend,  and  it  cannot  be 
driven,  but  must  be  led.  A  canoe  is  a  shy  water 
sprite,  and  violent  or  sudden  action  frightens  her, 
and  if  she  is  displeased  she  throws  one  over- 
board." 

In  relation  to  canoeing,  as  to  other  forms  of 
boating,  a  certain  retired  sea  captain,  who  gains  a 


344      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

livelihood  in  summer  by  renting  boats  to  pleasure- 
seekers,  may  be  quoted.  To  the  often-repeated 
question,  "Is  this  boat  safe?"  he  has  but  one  un- 
varying reply,  "  Every  boat  is  a  dangerous  boat." 
And  he  is  right,  in  the  sense  in  which  he  means  it. 
A  boat  is  a  dangerous  thing  to  play  with,  but  it  is 
a  valuable  and  obedient  servant  if  rightly  under- 
stood and  subjected  to  perfect  control.  Every  sum- 
mer the  public  is  warned  in  regard  to  the  dangers 
of  rowing  and  sailing,  and  with  each  returning 
vacation  time  come  sad  tales  of  the  loss  of  life. 
Nevertheless  the  idea  that  no  one  must  use  boats, 
because  a  small  proportion  of  those  who  do  are 
drowned,  is  as  foolish  as  it  is  useless. 

Fishing  in  any  form,  with  or  without  sailing 
or  boating,  is  an  excellent  rest  cure  with  outdoor 
life — in  most  localities  at  least  where  there  are 
not  many  fish  to  be  caught.  Deep-sea  fishing 
gives  plenty  of  bodily  exercise  if  the  fishing  is 
good. 

Driving,  which  we  did  not  consider  in  connection 
with  horsemanship,  does  not  give  much  bodily  exer- 
cise, save  as  coaching  perhaps,  or  when  driving  a 
fractious  horse,  and  so  it  comes  under  the  rest  cures. 
To  any  one  who  has  the  chance  it  can  be  made  to 
give  great  benefit.  Most  enjoyable  tours  can  be 
arranged  on  wheels  as  on  horseback,  either  with  the 
modest  appointments  of  a  one-horse  buggy  or  the 
more  elaborate  four-in-hand. 


OUTDOOR  LIFE. 


345 


Some  business  men  in  need  of  exercise  take  to 
amateur  farming  in  suburban  homes  solely  for  that 
purpose.  This  gives  outdoor  life  but  can  hardly  be 
counted   among  the   rest  cures.     If  the  necessary 


ON   SNOW-SHOES. 

exercising  is  varied  much  good  can  be  gotten  out 
of  it.  But  such  farmers  need  not  hope  for  pecuni- 
ary profit  otherwise  than  in  repaired  minds  and 
bodies.  The  turnips  may  cost  one  dollar  each  or 
the  chickens  five  dollars. 


346      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

In  winter  there  are  numerous  outdoor  recreations 
which  should  be  encouraged,  because  at  that  time 
many  are  prone  to  forego  outdoor  exercise.  Skating, 
when  possible,  can  alternate  with  walking,  and  it 
involves  considerable  bodily  exercise.  With  mod- 
ern skates  the  evils  of  impeded  circulation  are 
avoided.  In  winter  in  many  places  we  can  also 
have  ice  yachting,  ice  polo,  which  is  hockey  on  ice, 
or  other  games  more  lenient  in  character  than  the 
greater  curling.  In  certain  places  snow-shoeing 
and  tobogganing  may  be  made  enjoyable.  These 
are  usually  to  be  had  only  in  rugged  climates 
where  the  inhabitants  are  more  hardy  and  indulge 
in  them  freely  notwithstanding  the  cold.  The 
hardiness  to  endure  and  enjoy  them  has  come  from 
the  necessary  outdoor  exposure  of  life  in  such 
climates. 

There  is  one  form  of  outdoor  life  of  which  we 
know  little.  It  were  well  if  we  were  better  ac- 
quainted. It  partakes  of  the  nature  both  of  camp- 
ing and  boating.  This  is  the  "  House-boat,"  an 
appliance  which  has  given  unlimited  pleasure  to 
its  owners.  The  owner  of  a  house-boat  is  the 
owner  of  real  estate  that  can  be  moved  and  have  its 
surroundings  changed  at  will,  but  it  cannot  be 
taxed  as  real  estate.  It  costs  no  more  than  a  sea- 
side cottage  and  pays  no  ground  rent.  It  can 
accommodate  as  many  as  a  cottage,  and  as  well. 
It  gives  the  pleasures  of  yachting  to  a  certain  extent 


ONK  FORM   OF   HOUSE-BOAT. 


OUTDOOR  LIFE.  347 

without  the  cost.  A  house-boat  costs  $300  to  a 
yacht's  $5000. 

There  are  various  ways  of  moving  or  navigating 
a  house-boat  or  of  having  it  moved.  One  is  not 
confined  to  a  canal.  It  can  use  sails  or  sweep  oars, 
it  can  be  poled,  or  it  can  be  towed  by  steam,  by 
horses  or  by  any  other  boat.  On  a  river  it  can 
float  with  the  current.  On  a  tidal  river  it  can  go 
against  the  current  by  floating  at  ebb  tide  and 
tying  up  during  the  flow.  I^ife  on  a  house-boat 
can  have  all  the  enjoyments  of  social  life  and 
many  of  its  comforts.  Room  on  a  house-boat  is 
unlimited.  It  is  an  immense  Saratoga  trunk.  The 
cabin  roof  is  the  promenade,  and  anybody's  land 
3'ou  choose  to  anchor  by  can  be  used  at  will — 
usually. 

House-boats  are  a  great  institution  abroad,  but 
we  have  only  a  few  specimens  here.  In  a  few 
years  we  shall  have  plenty  of  them.  On  the 
Thames  their  number  has  assumed  such  propor- 
tions as  to  need  regulation.  The  "  Spectator " 
(lyondon,  England),  in  July,  1887,  drew  attention  to 
certain  evils  in  this  manner: 

"  Summer  life  in  a  house-boat  on  the  Thames  has 
become,  during  the  last  twenty  years,  a  rage  among 
some  thousands  of  well-to-do  people.  There  is  an 
undeniable  charm — at  all  events,  as  a  novelty,  and 
in  fine  weather — in  the  mode  of  life.  The  vessel  is 
fitted  with  the  internal  accommodation  of  a  yacht — 


348      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

according  to  size — and  contains  saloon,  sleeping- 
berths,  kitchen,  and  other  domestic  accommoda- 
tions. She  is  moored  under  the  trees  and  has  an 
awning  over  the  deck  (or  roof).  She  has  her 
tenders,  in  the  shape  of  one  or  two  row-boats,  or  a 
punt,  or  a  steam  launch.  She  incurs  no  rates  or 
taxes,  subject  to  the  registration  fees,  which  are  at 
the  present  date,  propounded  in  the  latest  draft  of 
the  Thames  Conservancy  by-laws.  She  is  a  cheap 
substitute  for  a  riparian  residence,  and  is  handy  as 
such  for  a  city  man  who  has  business  avocations.  In 
1865  there  was,  so  far  as  we  can  recollect,  only  one 
of  these  craft  for  pleasure  residence  on  the  river, 
and  she  belonged  to  a  Bond  street  perfumer.  There 
were  a  few  other  house-boats — such  as  Salter's  barge 
at  Oxford — used  as  residences  for  care-takers  of 
boats  to  let,  and  there  were  also  the  '  college '  barges, 
used  as  dressing-rooms,  at  Oxford;  but  the  idea  of 
the  pleasure-yacht  system  of  the  present  day  had 
not  gained  ground  on  the  Thames. 

*'In  1866  a  Thames  Conservancy  Act  was  passed. 
Among  its  provisions,  vesting  the  control  of  the 
river  in  the  board,  were  sections  for  checking  pol- 
lution of  the  stream.  All  foul  drainage  into  the 
river,  or  into  any  tributary  within  three  miles' 
radius,  was  inhibited.  Till  then  the  Thames  had 
been  growing  into  a  navigable  sewer  up-river,  and 
at  the  same  time  had  become  the  main  drinking 
supply  of  the  metropolis.  The  latter  fact  caused 
the  legislation  against  pollution. 


A  COZY  CORNER  ON  A   HOUSE-BOAT. 


350      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

"  While  the  rate-paying  population  up-river  have 
gone  to  great  expense  in  diverting  their  sew- 
age, a  new  and  non-rate-paying  class  of  residents 
have  sprung  up  who  daily  made  the  river  their 
common  sewer.  These  are  the  residents  of  house- 
boats, and  of  the  larger  class  of  steam  launches, 
such  as  are  fitted  for  residence  and  which  contain 
"domestic  accommodation,"  draining  into  the  river. 
This  year  the  floating  population  numbers  thous- 
ands, without  exaggeration.  There  are  more  than 
six  hundred  such  vessels  now  (in  1887)  used  as 
habitations  on  the  upper  river.  Most  of  these 
contain  an  average  of  six  or  more  residents.  The 
effect  of  this  population  on  the  purity  of  the  stream 
was  very  evident  last  week  at  Hambledon,  below 
Henley.  There  was  a  line  of  these  floating  houses 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  in  length,  extending  pretty 
nearly  from  the  Regatta  Island  to  the  open  bathing 
place  in  the  Margrave  direction.  And  yet  the 
house-boats  at  Henley  were  not  a  third  of  the  whole 
number  afloat  on  the  Thames.  The  river  was  the 
receptacle  of  the  garbage  and  sewage  of  these 
domiciles,  and  samples  of  the  stream  showed  the 
water  to  be  heavily  laden  with  decaying  organic 
matter  to  such  an  extent  that  the  nose  could  detect 
it  in  a  pint  of  water." 

The  Spectator  also  claimed  that  these  boats,  thus 
congregated,  became  the  resorts  of  disreputable  char- 
acters, but  that  could  happen  in  a  town  of  any  kind 


OUTDOOR  LIFE.  351 

of  houses,  whether  floating  or  not,  if  proper  pre- 
cautions were  not  taken.  House-boats  are  not  self- 
regulating,  either  as  to  sewage  or  morals,  particu- 
larly when  they  increase  in  numbers  to  such  an 
extent.  But  they  must  have  had  some  merit  to 
have  became  so  popular.  The  number  is  now  much 
greater  than  in  1887. 

In  America  we  have  a  few  specimens  of  house- 
boat, some  expensive,  some  plain.  Some  imita- 
tions have  been  extemporized  out  of  old  canal 
boats,  and  though  the  imitation  was  poor  and  the 
field  of  usefulness  limited,  the  result  has  been  enjoy- 
able. These  have  been  made  artistically  perfect, 
but  they  were  hardly  so  comfortable  as  a  boat  built 
for  residence. 

Opposite  Alexandria  Bay,  among  the  attractive 
summer  houses  built  on  boulders  which  crop  out  of 
the  water  in  the  St.  Lawrence  archipelago,  it  is 
said  that  the  house-boat  will  be  the  coming  home 
for  the  summer  resident.  In  these  waters  that 
English  idea  of  summer  comfort  is  gaining  qiiite  a 
foothold.  A  Chicago  gentleman,  Mr.  Clark,  who 
lived  on  a  charming  island,  was  the  first  to  build 
a  house-boat  there.  In  it  he  took  a  family  trip  to 
the  Rideau  lakes  in  Canada,  and  he  was  enthusias- 
tic in  praise  of  the  complete  independence  of  life  in 
one's  own  house  afloat.  The  feature  of  a  season  in 
this  line  was  the  house-boat  completed  for  Mr. 
K.  W.   Dewey,  of   New  York.     In    this    boat,  the 


352     ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

"  Idler,"  a  ten  days'  trip  was  made  to  the  Rideau 
region  in  tow  of  a  yacht. 

Mr.  Dewey's  boat  is  not  the  largest — Mr.  Loril- 
lard's  big  steam  house-boat,  which  has  mostly  been 
in  Florida  waters,  exceeding  it  greatly  in  size  and 
cost — but  it  is  the  completest  and  most  comfort- 
able house-boat  in  America.  It  would  probably 
cause  some  of  the  English  house-boat  men  to  open 
wide  their  eyes;  and  it  was  designed  and  built  by 
a  boy,  young  Andrew  I^eyare,  who  has  always  lived 
on  the  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

This  house-boat  is  a  scow  so  far  as  the  shape  of 
the  hull  goes — ^nearly  square  at  bow  and  stern — or, 
more  precisely  speaking,  spoon-shaped.  The  main 
deck  affords  living  accommodations,  and  above  this 
is  the  hurricane  deck,  about  65  x  i6  feet  in  dimen- 
sions, covered  overhead  with  a  large  awning.  Here 
are  rugs,  tables  and  easy  chairs. 

Below  there  is  a  cock-pit  in  the  bow,  where  the 
steering  wheel  is  placed,  and  around  which  are 
cushioned  seats.  Within  is  a  large  library,  beauti- 
fied with  rugs  and  hangings,  and  furnished  hand- 
somely with  chairs,  tables  and  a  piano.  There  are 
six  inviting  staterooms  for  two  passengers  each, 
and  the  most  perfectly  appointed  dining-room  and 
kitchen  ever  seen  outside  a  first-class  New  York 
flat. 

Such  elegance,  however,  is  not  at  all  necessary  in 
a  house-boat,  either  for  comfort  or  the  aristocratic 


OUTDOOR  LIFE. 


353 


standing  of  the  occupants.  The  type  shown  in  the 
illustration  "  One  Form  of  House-boat,"  is  amply 
sufficient  for  comfort.  The  hull  of  such  a  boat 
would  cost  less  to  build  new  than  what  a  super- 
annuated canal  boat  would  usually  bring.  It  can 
give  all  the  comforts  and  advantages  of  camping 
with  the  extra  advantage  of  change  of  site  at  will, 
as  may  be  needed,  without  breaking  camp.  For 
shelter,  it  is  as  much  superior  to  a  camping  shanty 
as  the  shanty  is  to  a  tent. 


23 


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Training. 


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XVIII. 
Training. 

The  word  training  gives  a  false  impression  to 
many  people  owing  to  the  fact  that  in  former  times 
athletic  training  consisted  of  a  series  of  frantic 
efforts  to  bring  some  debauched  and  drunken  old 
prize  fighter  into  some  semblance  of  former  physi- 
cal vigor  by  a  series  of  violent  purgings  and  sweat- 
ings, followed  by  rare-meat  diet  and  violent  exercise. 
Stimulants  which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  were 
restricted  in  quantity  or  taken  away.  After  the 
brutal  mauling  of  the  contest,  there  was  a  sudden 
plunge  back  into  every  kind  of  excess.  The  result 
of  this  extravagance  of  preparation,  and  of  dissi- 
pation before  and  afterward,  was  harmful,  and  all 
of  the  harm  was  blamed  on  the  training. 

Garfield  is  quoted  as  saying,  "  There  is  no  way  in 
which  you  can  get  so  much  out  of  a  man  as  by 
training,  not  in  pieces,  but  the  whole  of  him;  and 
the  trained  men,  other  things  being  equal,  are  to 
be  the  masters  of  the  world." 

Training  is  requisite  in  everything.  In  a  certain 
sense  every  man  who  has  to  malic  his  way  in  life 
should  always  be  in  physical  training,  not  only  in 
regard  to  dieting,  but  in  all  preparations  which  go 
to  make  him  ready  and  to  fit  him  for  what  he  may 

(357) 


358       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

have  to  do,  or  even  for  unexpected  needs.  As 
Walter  Camp  says,  "  Training  is  only  a  preparation. 
It  may  be  but  a  preparation  to  meet  the  ordinary 
demands  upon  the  physical  system,  such  as  every- 
day life  presents  to  every  boy  or  man,  or  it  may  be 
a  preparation  for  some  physical  effort  which  shall 
tax  every  nerve  and  special  muscle  to  their  utmost. 
Personal  safety  must  always  rest  upon  a  moderate 
amount  of  physical  culture,  and  although  such 
training  is  often  undergone  unwittingly  it  is  none 
the  less  necessary.  The  emergency  may  not  arise 
for  a  long  time,  but  when  it  does  come,  the  man 
who  has  had  no  preparation  finds  himself  unable  to 
meet  it;  and  this  may  mean  and  often  does,  serious 
physical  injury.  A  man  runs  to  catch  a  train  and 
he  never  recovers  from  the  effects  of  that  run. 
Then  there  are  more  improbable  exigencies,  when 
sudden  action  or  prolonged  effort  may  be  required 
— fire,  shipwreck,  hundreds  of  other  accidents, 
where  the  man  with  his  muscles  educated  and 
under  control  may  escape  unharmed,  while  the 
untrained  man  may  meet  physical  injury,  perhaps 
death." 

Athletic  training  is  thus  simply  preparation  of 
the  body  for  new  and  unaccustomed  strains.  It  is 
the  preparation  by  which  the  body  is  gradually 
fitted  for  the  most  severe  physical  exertion,  or  to 
take  violent  exercise  if  necessary  with  the  least 
possible  strain. 


TRAINING.  351 

It  has  been  a  very  inexact  science  in  the  hands 
of  empirics  and  ignorant  people.  As  now  practiced 
it  is  but  a  superyision^ofLIife- to^  make  it  conform  to 
hygienic  laws. 

In  healthful  athletics,  training  now  amounts  to 
little  more  than  moderation  in  diet  and  the  taking 
of  moderate  exercise.  There  must  be  no  unlimited 
freedom  or  license  but  temperance  and  regularity; 
the  leading  of  a  clean,  chaste,  self-restrained,  natural 
life,  with  moderation  in  all  things. 

The  training  of  to-day  is  sneered  at  by  old  ath- 
letes who  went  through  a  course,  which  if  it  had 
been  followed  out  to  the  letter,  would  have  killed 
nearly  all  the  men  who  tried  it.  Under  intelligent 
medical  direction,  on  amateur  men  who  have  not 
an  evil  life  to  build  on,  modern  training,  such  as  the 
old  people  would  call  no  training  at  all,  can  show 
much  better  results  than  the  older  kind  ever  did. 

In  athletic  contests,  to  attempt.  an,.uuusual  strain 
without  some  training  may  cause  untold  injury. 
The  man  who  wishes  to  get  the  greatest  comfort 
and  good  out  of  athletics  should  keep  out  of  such 
contests;  but  if  his  occupation,  athletic  or  other- 
wise, is  at  all  of  the  nature  of  a  strain,  by  all  means 
let  him  train  or  prepare  for  it — the  preparation  may 
be  called  training  or  not,  as  it  suits — until  he  can 
perform  his  work  comfortably. 

The  trained  person  makes  light  of  tasks  that 
would  otherwise  kill.      The   power   to   stand  the 


360      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE, 

strain  increases  gradually  under  training  and  in  a 
most  gratifying  manner.  Beneficial  athletic  train- 
ing is  nothing  but  a  building-up  process  of  n^erves 
and  miiscles.  Some  method  of  healthy  bodily 
training  can  easily  be  followed  by  the  average 
business  or  professional  man. 

By  dieting  in  training  is  not  meant  any  violent 
methods.  Any  system  which  includes  ausdicine 
belongs  to  the  dark  middle  ages  of  athletics.  The 
simplest  systems  are  the  best.  Nor  is  it  necessary 
to  kill  one's  self  with  thirst.  Mr.  Ford,  who  knows 
whereof  he  writes,  says  in  Outing  that  a  choice  in 
diet  is  not  usually  important  enough  to  think  of, 
and  anything  that  is  usually  on  your  table  will  do. 
If  one  makes  athletics  a  business  it  may  pay  to 
have  special  dishes  of  plain  cooking  served,  but  the 
difference  in  the  effect  between  any  dish  that  could 
be  prepared  and  the  ordinary  fare  would  be  so  slight 
that  one  is  better  off  without  the  inconvenience. 

A  comMnation  of  both  vegetable  and  animal 
food,  or  meatj^bread  and  butter,  and  vegetables,  is 
most  desirable. 

In  drinl^  more  care  is  necessary.  After  pvprrise 
thejthroat  i^  apt  to  be  dry,  caused  somewhat  by  the 
increased  breathing  witlTopen  mouth.  The  temp- 
tation is  then  to  pour  down  fluid  enough  to  deluge 
the  supposed  thirst.  A  short  wait  will  show,  if 
not  in  hot  weather,  when  you  may  be  continually 
thirsty,  that  you  are  not  so  thirsty  as  you  thought 


TRAINING.  361 

you  were.  To  drink  a  large  quantity  of  liquid  is 
not  good. 

With  care  and  diet  must  go  exercise  of  some  kind, 
the  more  varied  and  systematic  the  better — in  the 
fresh  air  preferable — which  need  not  be  of  an  enor- 
mous amount,  but  it  must  be  followed  by  sufficient 
rest.  At  least  eight  hours'  daily  sleep  is  required. 
The  hours  of  rest  should  be  regular.  Rise  at  an 
ordinary  hour,  not  abnormally  early,  but  to  suit 
previous  custom. 

As  training  is  temperance,  one  of  the  results  of 
athletic  training  as  practiced  in  colleges  for  athletic 
purposes,  has  been  a  noticeable  increase  in  healthful 
habits  of  life,  noticed  not  only  by  observation,  but 
from  statistics.  At  one  time  in  colleges  the  vice  of 
intemperance  in  drink  was  a  fearful  evil.  The 
athletic  field,  gymnasium  and  training  have  largely 
reduced  in  numbers  the  drinking  class  in  colleges. 
Under  the  American  system  of  athletic  training, 
water  is  the  only  drink  allowed.  The  climate  of 
England  and  the  habits  of  the  people  appear  to 
allow  more  liberty  in  that  respect  without  injury. 
It  is  also  the  American  habit  to  prohibit  the  use  of 
tobacco,  which  has  made  a  remarkable  increase  in 
the  number  of  those  who  do  not  use  the  drug  in 
any  form,  and  a  decrease  in  the  amount  used  by 
others.  The  college  man  who  does  not  smoke  or 
chew  is  not  now  looked  upon  as  such  a  rara  avis. 
Even  the  use  of  coffee  and  tea  as  stimulants  has 
been  much  restricted. 


362      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE, 

Students  and  others  are  beginning  to  learn  that 
the  period  of  training  just  previous  to  a  contest 
should  not  be  suddenly  broken  off  if  good  health  is 
to  be  retained.  He  recognizes  that  it  is  preferable 
for  ordinary  purposes  of  life  if  it  could  be  kept  up 
in  some  daily  form,  without  limit  as  to  the  length 
of  the  season.  In  the  application  of  this  knowledge 
he  gains  in  his  own  person;  and  as  a  consequence, 
the  evil  effects  of  training,  which  under  both  the 
old  and  new  systems  were  nearly  always  in  the  sud- 
den leaving  off  and  going  back  to  license,  are  not 
often  heard  of. 

The  benefits  which  the  truly  trained  athlete  enjoys 
are  all  included  in  the  one  word  health,  which  may 
be  seen  in  every  movement,  and  felt  in  every  nerve 
and  vein.  Health  not  only  breeds  happiness  and 
contentment,  which  gives  the  desire  to  do  good  in 
the  world,  but  it  gives  the  power  to  do  the  good 
and  without  even  feeling  weary  in  well  doing.  This 
is  the  end  of  training,  to  gain  endurance;  endurance 
which  is  possible  because  it  is  not  felt  as  irksome. 
The  greatest  names  of  history,  conquerors,  reform- 
ers and  the  like,  those  who  have  done  anything 
great,  either  for  their  own  aggrandizement  or  for 
the  good  of  the  human  race,  have  been  men  of  fine 
physique,  capable  of  wonderful  endurance. 

A  well-trained  body  not  only  enables  its  owner 
to  take  constant  exercise  in  the  open  air — one 
means  of  attaining  perfect  health — but  to  endure 


TRAINING.  363 

SO  as  to  perform  any  difficult  feat  without  fatigue, 
such  as  long  journeys,  either  riding  or  walking  and 
the  like;  and  not  only  without  fatigue  but  with  a 
feeling  of  perfect  enjoyment.  It  enables  the  body 
to  endure  cold,  wet  and  even  fasting  for  a  long 
time;,  if  that  strain  is  necessary,  without  danger  to 
health. 

There  is  in  fact  hardly  any  end  to  the  possible 
endurance  of  the  trained  athlete.  But  the  best  of 
it  is  that  while  encountering  or  overcoming  hard- 
ships and  difficulties  which  would  make  a  person 
of  less  stamina  feel  spiritless  and  crushed,  the  ath- 
lete's brain  is.  xlear^  A  discontented  or  peevish 
frame  of  mind  is  entirely  unknown  to  him. 

By  all  means,  let  some  kind  of  training  or  keep- 
ing in  condition  form  a  part  of  all  physical  culture. 


Questions  of  Hygiene. 


J 


XIX. 

Questions  of  Hygiene. 

Addison  says  that  physic  is  nothing  else  but  the 
substitute  for  exercise  and  temperance.  Of  the 
two  alternatives  exercise  should  be  preferred  to 
physic.  The  cultivation  of  temperance,  as  has  been 
shown,  is  a  necessary  accompaniment  and  result  of 
exercise.  Temperance  is  but  another  word  for  phys- 
ical training.  A  further  cultivation  of  temperance 
in  everything,  not  only  in  food  and  drink,  covers 
nearly  all  questions  of  hygiene. 

We  show  so  little  judgment  in  the  manage- 
ment of  our  bodies  that  we  make  but  a  poor  job  of 
it.  As  to  dieting,  if  we  are  moderately  hungry  we 
eat  too  much,  no  matter  whether  we  need  it  or  not, 
or  whether  our  bodies  have  active  exercise  or  not. 
As  we  usually  try  to  put  in  the  same  amount  of 
fuel,  whether  our  engines  are  going  at  the  rate  of 
five  miles  an  hour  or  fifty-five,  the  next  best  thing 
we  can  do  is  to  always  run  at  the  fifty-five  mile 
rate,  or  in  other  words  to  exercise. 

Exercise  or  no  exercise  makes  a  great  difference 
in  our  bodies  and  their  need  for  food.  While  we 
are  at  rest  our  lungs  consume  about  480  cubic 
inches  of  air  a  minute.  While  walking  at  the  rate 
of  about  four  miles  an  hour,  the  consumption    is 

(367) 


368      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE, 

about  2400  cubic  iuches.  Wheu  ruuning  at  about 
the  rate  of  six  miles  au  hour,  we  cousume  3360 
cubic  iuches  per  minute.  This  increased  amount 
of  air  is  capable  of  nourishing  a  great  deal  more 
blood  and  of  using  a  great  deal  more  food. 

During  exercise  the  action  of  the  heart  is  in- 
creased by  about  from  ten  to  thirty  beats  more  per 
minute. 

The  mere  motion  of  the  abdomen  and  pelvic 
contents  during  exercise  increases  the  motion  of 
the  muscles  of  the  stomach,  and  this  aids  the  per- 
istaltic movement  of  the  stomach  and  intestines, 
hastening  digestion.  There  is  a  more  perfect  ab- 
sorption, a  better  circulation  through  the  liver,  the 
kidneys  act  more  normally,  and  all  members  of  the 
body  are  in  better  form. 

A  noted  physician  once  asked  a  hearty  old  man 
the  secret  of  his  health.  "  I  take  only  one  meal  a 
day,"  was  the  reply.  "  Keep  your  secret,"  was  the 
physician's  reply.  "  If  it  were  known  and  followed 
our  profession  would  be  ruined."  That  old  man 
was  probably  too  old  for  much  exercise  and  he 
therefore  sensibly  took  the  other  alternative.  A 
little  common  sense  is  a  good  thing  in  health  culture. 

It  may  be  remarked  here  that  to  procure  a  life 
model  for  such  au  illustration  as  Fig.  51 — who  is  an 
actual  business  man,  and  therefore  a  true  example 
of  the  ills  exemplified — or  a  model  for  some  of  the 
other  abnormal  types  shown  in  this  volume,  is  one 


IflG.    5T.— TOO   MUCH  I^OOD   "POR  THK  AMOUNT  OF  EXKRCISE. 


QUESTIONS  OF  HYGIENE.  369 

of  the  hardest  tasks  imaginable.  Types  of  well- 
developed  athletes  can  easily  be  had,  but  when  it 
comes  to  an  abnormal  type  the  subject  is  ashamed 
of  his  development  and  money  cannot  buy  his  ser- 
vices, though  he  may  be  a  beggar  in  actual  want. 
This  will  explain  why  a  nearer  approach  to  the 
student  type  in  Fig.  9  could  not  be  had  from  actual 
life. 

This  diffidence  would  go  to  show  that  the  devel- 
opment is  known  to  be  wrong.  It  may  be  an 
encouraging  sign.  With  that  knowledge  may  come 
a  desire  to  improve,  and  when  the  way  is  pointed 
out  it  may  be  followed. 

The  food  also  must  needs  be  the  right  thing  as 
well  as  of  the  right  quantity.  During  exercise  we 
need  foods  which  are  not  lacking  in  nitrogen,  which 
we  can  better  get  along  without  when  more  seden- 
tary. A  mixture  of  food  to  the  correct  happy  pro- 
portion is  desirable.  We  need  butter  as  well  as 
meat  fat,  and  fat  meat  as  well  as  lean  meat;  but 
the  proportion  should  be  varied  according  to  our 
manner  of  life.  As  one  changes,  the  other  should 
also. 

At  the  risk  of  repetition  we  here  summarize  some 
points  already  considered,  with  additional  ones. 

The  object  of  exercise  being  health,  it  follows 
that  exercise  should  be  undertaken  only  with 
healthful  surroundings.  We  have  spoken  of  the 
unhealthfulness   of    exercise    in    damp    and    dark 

24 


370      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

cellars,  and  of  the  greater  advantages  to  be  gained 
from  exercise  by  day  rather  than  night.  We  have 
found  that  exercise  should  be  recreation  as  well;  a 
tread-mill  in  a  dark  room,  though  it  may  increase 
the  muscle,  is  not  beneficial  exercise,  mentally  or 
physically.  While  exercise  should  be  play  it  should 
not  be  all  play.  Health  requires  mental  recreation 
as  well  as  physical.  Many  things  that  wx  consider 
recreation  are  not  recreation  either  for  the  body  or 
the  mind.  Walking  around  a  billiard  table  and  at 
the  same  time  making  use  of  cramped  positions  of 
the  body,  especially  if  in  bad  air  and  with  late  hours, 
is  not  healthful  exercise. 

Dancing  could  be  healthful  exercise,  particularly 
for  children,  and  could  give  grace  as  well;  but  as 
usually  practiced,  at  night,  with  very  abnormal 
hours,  with  imprudent  exposure  of  the  body  to 
chill  after  being  overheated,  while  breathing  bad 
and  overheated  air,  and,  in  the  case  of  women,  in 
unheal thful  or  at  least  too  restricted  dress,  it  is  not 
healthful  exercise. 

Exercise  of  any  kind  must  be  at  the  proper  time. 
We  have  mentioned  this  in  connection  with  the 
exercise  of  swimming.  But  any  exercise,  even 
though  it  does  not  include  the  bath,  should  be  sub- 
ject to  the  same  condition.  Immediately  after  a  meal 
is  not  the  proper  time  for  exercise,  as  the  blood  is 
then  needed  elsewhere  in  the  body — in  the  muscles  of 
the  stomach  and  not  in  those  of  the  arms,  legs,  etc. 


QUESTIONS  OF  HYGIENE.  371 

Next  there  must  not  only  be  proper  time  but 
regularity,  and  in  addition  to  regularity,  modera- 
tion, which  is  the  same  thing  as  temperance. 

We  do  not  want  great  physical  development,  but 
health.  There  is  a  limit  to  the  physical  develop- 
ment. This  limit  is  reached  sooner  if  the  exercise 
is  of  a  one-sided  character.  Exercise  should  include 
the  whole  body  and  be  succeeded  by  sufficient  rest. 

In  conclusion,  exercise  benefits  the  whole  body, 
including  the  nervous  system  and  the  mental  facul- 
ties, and  by  that  means  the  moral.  They  are  the 
weak-bodied  people  who  inhabit  our  jails,  whose 
brains  are  not  fully  exercised  and  developed, 
whose  minds  are  stunted  in  their  growth  and 
whose  morals  are  out  of  gear. 

The  test  of  moderation  in  exercise  is  fatigue. 
Never  go  on  with  any  muscular  exercise  when 
tired.  What  is  moderation  for  one  man  is  excess 
for  another.  One  man's  meat  is  another  man's 
poison.  That  is  the  objection  to  most  class  sys- 
tems of  exercise.  Too  much  the  same  thing  is 
required  of  all.  A  great  deal  depends  upon  a  man's 
usual  occupation.  That  should  be  considered  in 
finding  out  what  kind  of  exercise  he  needs;  and  as 
to  quantity,  that  also  depends  on  the  same  things, 
the  individual  and  his  occupation. 

Supposing  that  a  man  gets  absolutely  no  exer- 
cise in  his  business  pursuits,  the  question  is  fre- 
quently asked   how  little  can   he  get  along  with  ? 


372      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

While  regular  daily  exercise  of  several  hours 
duration  is  preferable,  physical  teachers  claim  that 
as  little  as  two  hours  a  week  at  two  separate  times, 
at  nearly  equally  separated  intervals  in  the  week, 
can  do  a  great  deal  in  the  way  of  improvement, 
but  that  one  of  these  intervals  a  week  does  not 
show  any  result.  Two  hours  at  once  is  too  much 
strain  for  the  person  who  does  not  exercise  in  the 
intervening  time.  More  frequent  intervals  than 
two,  each  of  shorter  duration,  so  as  to  make  up  the 
same  amount  in  the  week,  are  thought  to  be  better 
than  two  entire  but  separated  hours;  but  unless 
this  is  solitary  exercise  at  home,  the  patient  does 
not  care  to  make  preparation  for  each  one  of  these 
small  intervals.  Of  course  when  two  such  hours 
are  referred  to,  it  means  two  hours  especially 
devoted  to  exercise,  under  some  system  by  which 
ever}^  moment  is  utilized,  and  which  carefully 
adjusts  the  proportions  of  exercise  to  the  different 
parts  of  the  body.  Simply  to  walk  two  hours  a 
week  would  not  be  sufficient.  Indeed,  it  is  under- 
stood that  a  man  must  get  some  such  other  exer- 
cise in  addition  to  the  two  hours  set  apart  for  such 
purpose. 

We  often  go  to  physical  excess  through  our 
American  habit  of  trying  to  drive  everything.  We 
wish  to  do  too  much  at  once,  to  see  the  effect  too 
soon.  We  wish  to  do  in  a  day  what  takes  years,  to 
build  up  a  strong  bulwark  of  health  on  a  very  slight 


QUESTIONS  OF  HYGIENE.  373 

foundation,  by  means  of  one  hour's  exercise.  We 
go  to  the  extreme,  not  only  of  doing  too  much  at 
once,  but  of  doing  it  too  suddenly.  We  should  train 
for  it.  What  we  need  in  such  cases  is  more  rest 
and  less  exercise,  at  least  at  once.  Use  a  little  com- 
mon sense. 

k.  hygienic  dress  in  exercise  is  a  necessity.  The 
tendency  is  to  chill  after  the  heat  of  exercise.  The 
temptation  is  to  stand  around  after  the  cycle  run 
or  other  exercise  while  in  a  perspiration.  To  pre- 
vent the  risk  of  this,  the  use  of  flannel  in  dress  is 
important. 

An  important  adjunct  to  healthful  exercise  is  the 
hygienic  bath.  To  many  people,  a  bath  means  a 
once-a-week  tub,  at  night.  A  hygienic  bath  is  a 
daily  bath  of  some  kind.  If  a  person  is  so  situated, 
as  sometimes  happens,  that  he  has  to  so  rough  it 
that  no  water  of  any  kind  for  bathing  can  be  had, 
temporarily  a  brisk  rubbing  off  with  a  dry  towel, 
of  some  hard  but  flexible  material,  will  be  better 
for  the  skin  and  health,  as  well  as  being  more  com- 
fortable, than  an  entire  neglect.  Certain  parts 
of  the  body  need  the  bath  more  than  others.  The 
feet  which  are  closely  confined  all  day  need  it  more 
than  the  hands,  but  they  usually  have  attention  in 
inverse  ratio.  Any  one  who  does  not  bathe  the  feet 
daily  should  be  counted  an  outcast. 

A  warm  bath  opens  the  pores  of  the  skin,  and 
unless  followed  by  some  kind  of  moderate  chill. 


374      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

leaves  them  open  and  makes  a  person  enervated 
and  liable  to  cold.  By  the  use  of  a  warm  bath 
alone,  many  impurities  washed  off  in  the  water  are 
again  absorbed  through  the  open  pores.  A  warm 
bath  should,  at  least,  be  succeeded  by  a  vigorous 
rubbing  of  all  parts  of  the  body.  A  cold  bath  is 
good  for  those  who  can  take  it,  but  it  is  not  every 
one  who  can  stand  the  shock.  To  such  it  is  not 
healthful. 

In  a  great  deal  of  bathing,  particularly  a  turkish 
bath,  the  full  benefit  is  only  gained  if  a  change  of 
clothing  next  the  skin  is  carried  and  put  on  after 
the  bath.  Otherwise  the  impurities  given  off  by 
the  skin  and  retained  in  the  old  clothing  are  soon 
returned  to  the  pores.  This  advice  is  of  value  to 
women  as  well  as  men. 

A  certain  well-equipped  gymnasium  which  has 
facilities  for  hot  baths — as  sponge,  shower,  spray, 
or  hand  baths — for  a  sudden,  quick,  cold  bath,  or  for 
the  so-called  graded  bath,  which  is  recommended  in 
preference  to  any  other  for  the  majority  of  people, 
circulates  the  following  directions: 

The  warm  bath  promotes  perspiration,  and  re- 
moves lameness,  soothes,  and  will  induce  sleep. 
Good  time  to  take  it,  before  bed-time. 

The  graded  bath  should  be  taken  immediately 
after  exercise.  After  a  few  minutes  sponging  all 
over  with  warm  water,  quickly  sponge  off  with 
cold  water,  so  as  to  give  a  comfortable  shock,  then 


QUESTIONS  OF  HYGIENE.  375 

dry  the  body  with  a  soft,  absorbent  towel,  and  with 
one  a  little  coarser  until  the  surface  is  warm,  dry  and 
pink.      Such  a  bath  should  take  about  five  minutes. 

Or  dip  the  hands  in  cold  or  cool  water,  apply 
briskly  to  the  surface  of  the  body,  then  rub  briskly 
with  the  coarse  towel. 

Bathing  neck,  shoulders  and  chest  with  cold 
water,  will  fortify  against  cold,  throat  troubles,  etc. 

In  bathing,  as  in  exercise,  health  is  found  in  mod- 
eration. The  monomaniac  who  insists  on  a  daily 
cold  bath  for  strong  or  weak  people,  men  or  women 
alike,  and  without  regard  to  the  season,  time  of  day 
or  weather,  is  a  person  to  be  regarded  with  suspi- 
cion, so  far  as  following  his  advice  is  concerned. 
The  important  point,  cleanliness,  a  necessity  for 
good  health,  can  be  gained  without  extremes. 

The  temperature  of  the  room  in  bathing  is  just 
as  important  as  that  of  the  water.  A  warm  bath 
in  winter  cannot  be  taken  in  a  cold  room.  And 
the  rubbing  afterward  is  as  much  to  be  considered 
as  the  bath  itself. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  most  tracks,  athletic 
grounds,  boat-bouses,  and  such  places,  where  the 
bath  and  rub-down  is  more  needed  after  exercising 
than  in  the  gymnasiums,  are,  to  save  expense,  pro- 
vided with  only  one  form  of  bath,  the  cold  bath, 
and  that  usually  only  in  the  form  of  the  shower 
bath.  In  that  form  not  one  person  in  thirty  can 
make  use  of  it  healthfully. 


376       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  physical  culture 
is  of  special  value  to  children,  but  its  benefits  are 
not  confined  to  them.  Successful  culture  can  be 
carried  on  at  any  time  after  a  person  has  his  growth. 
The  man  who  has  never  exercised  up  to  his  eightieth 
year,  will  find  benefit  in  it,  if  he  does  not  try  to  do 
too  much  at  once  or  too  suddenly,  and  shows  com- 
mon sense  in  his  selection.  It  is  never  too  late  to 
mend. 


Athletic  Clubs. 


XX. 

Athletic  Clubs. 

The  athletic  club  has  a  certain  important  niche 
to  fill  in  all  systems  of  physical  culture,  and  it  fills  it 
more  or  less  according  to  how  the  club  is  managed. 
Usually  it  is  only  possible  for  the  average  athlete 
to  reach  the  desired  end  by  co-operation  in  num- 
bers, or  by  membership  with  others  in  an  organiza- 
tion, on  account  of  the  expense.  He  cannot  own  a 
gymnasium,  swimming  bath,  a  field,  often  not  even 
a  boat,  or  provide  a  house  to  cover  it,  without  the 
help  of  others.  By  combination,  all  of  these  come 
within  the  reach  ^of  a  comparatively  poor  man. 

It  is  a  good  thing,  in  order  to  make  sure  that  the 
enthusiasm  is  to  last,  to  put  it  into  a  joint  stock 
company.  This  will  secure  the  recreative  feature. 
Ivonely  exercise,  necessarily  a  wearisome  thing, 
becomes  work,  and  tiresome  work  at  that.  To  pre- 
vent this  is  the  club's  special  mission.  A  member 
of  a  club,  be  it  a  large  or  small  one,  a  formal  or 
informal  one,  has  the  pleasure  of  companionship 
and  the  stimulus  of  rivalry.  He  gets  advice,  en- 
couragement and  assistance,  and  in  consequence 
finds  a  pleasure  in  all  he  does.  He  can  then  endure 
anything  called  for  by  the  pursuit  and  can  perse- 
vere in  it.     Under  such  circumstances  the  glamor 

(379) 


380      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

of  a  gold  medal  or  silver  cup  has  a  strange  intoxica- 
tion, for  he  knows  how  its  winner  will  be  regarded 
among  his  fellows,  even  though  after  two  weeks  he 
may  tire  of  the  medal,  may  give  it  to  his  best  girl 
to  wear  as  a  breastpin,  and  may  never  reclaim  it. 

In  the  club,  too,  an  athlete  is  more  apt  to  be 
under  supervision,  so  that  his  exercise  will  be  more 
properly  proportioned  to  his  needs.  He  is  more 
likely  to  be  guarded  against  excess  or  injury. 

It  has  been  noticed  that  the  more  informal  the 
club  is,  the  better  it  fills  its  place  as  an  athletic 
factor.  A  party  of  young  men  get  together  whose 
funds  do  not  allow  of  anything  elaborate.  They 
rent  a  large  bare  loft  somewhere,  where  they  put 
up  their  meagre  appliances  and  have  their  head- 
quarters. They  are  full  of  enthusiasm.  They 
attend  and  exercise  regularly  at  whatever  they 
undertake.  There  is  nothing  else  to  bring  them  to 
such  a  place  but  the  business  in  hand.  In  time 
others  will  become  interested  who  have  more  money. 
The  men  then  become  more  ambitious  and  before 
long  an  elaborate  club-house  is  built,  with  every 
modern  appliance  for  exercise.  But  with  the  new 
facilities  comes  a  class  of  members  who  are  always 
going  to  exercise,  but  who  never  do  so.  They 
prefer  cards  in  the  back  parlor,  or  perhaps,  worse, 
drink  in  the  club  restaurant.  They  own  their  lock- 
ers and  exercising  suits,  but  they  meet  the  physi- 
cal  instructor   only  on  the  stairway  by  accident, 


in. 

o 


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o 

H 

W 
W 

w 


ATHLETIC  CLUBS.  381 

and  in  answer  to  his  inquiry  say  that  they  will 
certainly  be  up  to  see  him  shortly.  In  the  old 
quarters  the  active  membership,  those  who  took 
part  personally  in  the  exercising,  was  one  hundred 
per  cent.  In  the  new  it  falls  at  once  to  ten  per 
cent.  This  is  the  case,  with  a  somewhat  higher 
percentage,  among  even  the  German  "Turners," 
though  they  make  more  of  a  specialty  of  the  ath- 
letic side  of  club  life,  and  though  an  active  German 
"  Turner  "  does  not  lose  his  love  for  active  athletics 
so  easily  as  he  grows  older.  In  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  which  are  doing  such  good 
work  in  furnishing  facilities  for  exercise  at  the 
smallest  cost  to  thousands  who  would  otherwise 
have  none  whatever,  the  percentage  of  athletically 
active  members  is  even  less  than  in  the  more 
elaborate  private  clubs,  as  many  of  the  members 
join  for  other  purposes  than  the  athletic  exercise. 

In  cycle  clubs,  owing  to  their  newness  and  the 
necessity  for  having  at  least  the  use  of  a  machine 
before  it  would  be  worth  while  to  join  them,  the 
percentage  of  the  members  who  actually  engage  in 
exercise  is  large.  The  benefits  of  organization  are 
particularly  shown  in  this  department,  not  only  in 
club  membership  alone,  but  in  the  organization  of 
associations  which  have  made  themselves  felt  in 
road  making,  in  moulding  public  opinion  and  in 
securing  accommodations  for  tourists,  low  rates  for 
various  services  and  the  like.     If  the  organizations 


382     ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

of  cycling  men  do  no  more  than  they  are  now  try- 
ing to  do  in  improving  roads  and  paving,  with  con- 
sequent abatement  of  noise  in  cities,  which  fact  has 
been  already  mentioned,  they  are  entitled  to  the 
thanks  of  the  community.  In  so  doing  they  assist 
a  hygienic  work  and  add  to  the  average  length  of 
human  life.  Noise  is  responsible  for  much  of  the 
nervousness  complained  of  in  city  life.  Nor  does 
one  become  accustomed  to  it  as  is  supposed  when 
he  simply  ceases  to  notice  it.  The  injury  done  by 
the  incessant  noise  of  cities  is  continually  going  on 
until  in  many  cases  it  shows  in  a  shattered  nervous 
system. 

Of  clubs  which  make  a  specialty  of  one  branch 
of  athletics,  as  rowing,  yachting,  canoeing,  lawn 
tennis,  croquet,  lacrosse,  riding,  base-ball  or  cricket, 
there  is  no  end.  There  is  good  in  all  of  them,  if 
physical  culture  is  kept  in  view. 

The  truest  athletic  clubs  of  all  are  the  informal 
ones,  no  member  of  which  possibly  will  ever  make 
his  mark  on  a  running  track  or  ball  field.  These 
are  such  as  are  composed,  for  instance,  of  the 
employes  of  the  So-and-So  Company,  or  the  clerks 
of  such  a  firm,  or  the  mill  hands  of  such  a  mill. 
They  have  rivalries  with  the  clubs  of  other  houses 
in  the  same  or  other  lines  of  trade.  They  have  no 
uniform  save  their  shirt  sleeves,  but  they  have  a 
full  corps  of  officers  who  feel  their  dignit}'.  They 
play   ball,    perhaps,  on   open   suburban  lots   of  a 


ATHLETIC  CLUBS.  383 

Saturday  afternoon,  with  a  great  deal  of  noise,  but 
with  far  more  interest  than  is  shown  by  many  in 
the  greatest  of  professional  games,  on  account  of 
the  personal  element,  each  interested  person  being 
a  participant;  and  therein  lies  the  good..  The 
same  class  of  clubs  exists  among  the  small  boys  of 
one  street  who,  perhaps,  play  against  those  of 
another  street.  These  are  all  the  true  people's 
clubs.  They  do  more  good  than  all  the  wealthy 
clubs.  Turner  societies  or  Y.  M.  C.  A.s  put  together. 
They  should  not  be  crowded  out  of  park  or  vacant 
lot  where  they  can  do  no  harm,  but  should  be  fos- 
tered. If  a  stray  base-ball  goes  too  near  a  horse's 
head  the  site  should  be  moved  slightly,  not  aban- 
doned, or  the  batting  changed  to  face  the  other 
way.  All  such  clubs  should  be  supervised,  not 
suppressed.  The  wealthy  clubs  could  not  do  bet- 
ter than  to  take  these  informal  organizations  under 
their  protecting  wings.  They  are  all  composed  of 
brothers  in  athletics. 


Professionalism 


XXL 

Professionausm. 

From  what  we  have  indicated  at  times,  it  may 
be  inferred  that  a  great  enemy  of  athletics,  as  a 
means  of  general  physical  culture,  is  professional- 
ism and  its  resulting  evils.  While  it  is  natural  for 
man  to  contest,  for  the  sake  of  gaining  the  mastery 
over  an  opponent  or  winning,  when  the  bounds  of 
moderation  are  surpassed,  and  the  game  is  played 
simply  as  an  end  in  itself  and  not  as  a  means  to  an 
end,  it  is  time  for  the  man  who  is  in  search  of 
physical  culture  to  stop. 

When  the  winning  of  the  game  is  the  sole  end 
then  great  time  must  be  spent  on  the  preparation, 
without  which  there  can  be  no  hope  of  success.  If 
this  time  cannot  be  given,  then  the  next  step  is  to 
pay  someone  else  to  play  the  game  who  has  the 
necessary  time,  that  is  if  the  game  must  be  won  as 
the  main  object.  This  brings  in  the  almighty 
dollar  or  professionalism.  The  side  with  the  most 
dollars  at  stake  must  win  at  all  hazards.  In  the 
wake  of  the  increased  efficiency  of  the  contestants 
who  have  devoted  an  undue  amount  of  time  to  the 
pursuit,  or  in  other  words  have  made  a  business 
and  not  a  pleasure  of  it,  comes  the  desire  to  see  the 
combat  rather  than  take  part  in  it.     On  this  hang 

(387) 


388      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

money  interests  again,  one  of  which  is  that  of  the 
spectator,  an  interest  which  in  the  nature  of  things 
cannot  be  overlooked,  inasmuch  as  it  can  affect 
possibly  as  much  as  $20,000  to  $30,000  in  a  single 
match,  on  which  the  livelihood  (which  fact  may 
be  admitted  or  not)  of  the  contestants  depends  and 
which  only  will  secure  the  sport  another  year. 
With  such  moneyed  interests  at  stake,  is  it  to  be 
wondered  at  that  the  aim  is  to  make  the  contest  an 
interesting  one  to  the  spectator.  With  the  spec- 
tator as  a  consideration  comes  the  betting  mania, 
with  its  risks  of  crooked  work  in  the  sport  itself. 

The  mere  fact  that  gamblers  and  doubtful  pro- 
fessionals lay  hold  of  a  sport  is  in  itself  nothing 
to  its  discredit.  That  simply  shows  that  that  par- 
ticular sport  is  a  good  thing.  The  worm  never 
selects  a  bad  apple. 

The  great  bodily  use  of  an  athletic  contest 
between  amateurs  is  not  only  in  the  contest  itself 
and  in  the  taking  part  in  it  personally,  but  is  as 
much  in  the  preparation  which  has  led  up  to  it, 
and  which  has  much  more  effect  physically  than 
the  isolated  contest.  Consequently,  when  the  sport 
is  run  by  gamblers,  instead  of  for  personal  bodily 
advantage,  there  is  a  double  loss.  To  a  person 
interested  in  sports  as  a  means  of  physical  develop- 
ment, it  is  not  an  improving  sight  to  see  a  betting 
crowd,  interested  in  athletics  to  that  extent  and  for 
that   purpose   only,  standing   for   hours   before   a 


PROFESSIONALISM.  389 

bulletin  board  which  records  the  results  of  games 
taking  place  miles  away.  Not  only  are  all  the 
physical  benefits  of  athletics  then  missing,  but  the 
direct  result  mentally  and  nervously  is  directly  bad; 
as  much  so  as  is  the  effect  of  the  stock  board  on 
the  short-lived  speculator. 

Professionalism  is  thus  directly  responsible  for 
the  fact  that  athletics  are  not  doing  all  they  could 
for  the  physical  welfare  of  the  people;  also  for  the 
fact  that,  with  all  our  interest  in  athletics  to-day, 
less  than  one  per,  cent  of  our  young  men  practice 
athletics  personally  with  any  approach  to  system; 
also  for  the  fact  that  clubs  devoted  exclusively  to 
athletics  have  such  a  low  percentage  of  athletically 
active  members;  also  for  the  fact  that  even  in  the 
German  Turner  organizations,  the  most  athletically 
inclined  of  all  clubs,  actual  inquiry  shows  that  out 
of  an  average  membership  of  looo  about  200  or 
under  actually  use  the  gymnastic  courses. 

Professionalism  also  has  to  answer  for  much  of 
the  one-sided  physical  development  which  the  pro- 
fessional necessarily  develops,  which  development 
is  imitated  by  his  admirers,  who  thereby  deprive 
the  physical  exercise  of  its  best  efficiency  as  a 
means  of  health. 

There  is  no  actual  harm  in  itself  in  an  expert 
receiving  money  for  his  services  when  they  are 
needed.  The  harm,  if  the  professional  is  a  good 
man,  is  incidental.    All  lovers  of  athletic  sports,  for 


390      ATHLETICS  FOR   PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

the  sport  that  is  in  them,  will  do  well  to  try  to  dis- 
tinguish the  good  from  the  bad.  It  is  a  delicate 
subject  requiring  much  consideration.  By  so  doing 
they  may  aid  in  the  right  direction  by  the  weight 
of  their  opinion,  help  to  preserve  the  purity  of 
sport,  and  prevent  injustice  being  done  to  many  a 
good  professional.  In  certain  ways  people  who 
receive  money  for  athletic  services — not  people 
who  have  great  stakes  in  gate  money  or  prizes — 
have  a  beneficial  mission.  Without  professionalism 
in  some  form  it  is  not  always  possible  to  show  just 
what  a  certain  sport  is  capable  of  It  sometimes 
requires  a  person's  whole  time  to  do  such  a  thing. 
Without  such  showing  there  may  be  lack  of  enthu- 
siasm and  interest,  which  alone  can  keep  an  ama- 
teur up  to  the  point  of  using  the  sport  for  exercise 
to  his  own  personal  benefit. 

An  expert,  if  a  proper  man,  can  always  have  a 
legitimate  field  as  a  teacher,  and  as  such  he  should 
be  in  a  separate  class  from  the  prize  winner  who 
tries  to  win  for  the  sake  of  the  money  prizes.  To 
be  an  expert  who  would  be  of  value  as  a  teacher, 
requires  an  expenditure  of  time  for  preparation  and 
practice  which  could  not  be  afforded  if  there  were 
no  support  to  be  gained  out  of  the  pursuit  in  the 
meantime.  To  sweep  away  professionalism,  as  the 
too-inclusive  term  is  now  understood,  would  remove 
many  disadvantages,  but  also  many  of  the  bulwarks 
of  athletics,  and  with  them  some  physical  benefit. 


PROFESSIONALISM.  391 

It  is  time  that  a  narrower  definition  of  the  term 
was  adopted.  The  desirable  portion  of  the  profes- 
sion should  be  known  by  a  different  title,  and  the 
teacher  class  should  be  carefully  separated.  The 
subject  is  one  of  vital  importance  to  physical  devel- 
opment through  athletics,  and  deserves  careful  con- 
sideration by  the  most  thoughtful  minds. 


Women  in  Athletics. 


/ 


XXII. 
Women  in  Athi^etics. 

We  have  considered  the  question  of  athletics  for 
women  throughout  the  various  chapters  of  this 
book,  but  the  subject  is  of  enough  importance  to 
demand  separate  notice  here  also. 

It  has  been  said  that  when  you  educate  a  boy 
you  may  be  training  a  man,  but  when  you  educate 
a  girl  you  may  be  educating  a  family.  It  is  useless 
to  press  the  claims  of  health  and  physical  training, 
to  aim  for  better  bodies  and  a  higher  physical 
development  if  the  future  mothers  are  not  consid- 
ered. Their  physical  training  is  of  more  import- 
ance than  that  of  the  man.  It  is  a  field  that  could 
be  well  cultivated,  for  women,  as  a  rule,  have  more 
time  to  devote  to  it  than  men. 

Originally,  woman  was  the  physical  equal  of 
man.  In  pastoral  or  nomadic  life  she  did  as  much 
as  he  did.  But  as  the  demands  of  civilization 
increased,  she  was  confined  more  and  more  to  the 
house,  and  became  a  petted  toy  of  man. 

In  the  revival  of  athletics  for  women  the  English 
woman  was  the  pioneer,  closely  followed  by  the 
American.  Both  excel  the  women  of  France,  Ger- 
many and  other  European  countries.     Women  of 

(395) 


396      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

the  better  classes  are  here  referred  to.  Historically 
speaking,  the  English  girl  of  a  certain  class  has 
always  walked,  rowed,  or  ridden  with  her  brother 
or  father.  But  in  both  England  and  America 
many  women  still  exist  without  exercise.  If  they 
are  not  reading,  writing  or  studying,  they  are  sew- 
ing, knitting,  or  for  amusement  embroidering,  with 
the  result  of  contracted  chest,  headaches,  dimness 
of  sight,  brain  fatigue,  languid  livers,  dyspepsia, 
stiff  backs  and  premature  stoop.  For  these  com- 
plaints these  women  turn  to  medicine  instead  of 
exercise,  or  they  bear  with  the  maladies,  doing 
nothing  for  them. 

Those  women  who  really  desired  exercise  and 
recreation  were  for  years  hampered  by  public 
opinion  as  to  what  constituted  suitable  recreation 
for  women.  Not  infrequently  walking  in  squads 
by  whole  schools  was  the  only  accepted  form. 
Archery,  where  practiced,  was  considered  ladylike. 
Croquet  then  put  in  its  claim,  but  the  croquet  girl 
was  a  girl  who  had  to  sink  exhausted  into  a  seat 
after  every  turn.  It  was  not  until  the  advent  of 
lawn  tennis,  that  boon  to  women,  that  the  physical 
opportunity  of  women  really  began.  Since  then 
she  has  progressed  well,  and  nowhere  better  than 
in  America.  The  American  girl  is  more  free 
than  any  girl  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  she 
can  and  has  used  that  freedom  to  her  physical 
advantage. 


398      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

Ainericaii  women  have  now  progressed  so  far  as 
to  be  represented  in  almost  every  sport  except 
track  athletics.  To  cycling  she  has  adapted  her- 
self perfectly.  She  is  expert  at  swimming.  She 
is  not  yet  an  adept  at  base-ball  nor  is  she  likely  to 
be,  though  she  could  be  if  she  did  not  mind  rough 
usage  or  disfigurement,  and  adopted  suitable  dress, 
but  she  has  tried  cricket  systematically.  The  uni- 
versal "leg  before  wicket,"  due  to  the  dress,  has 
been  the  only  drawback  in  that  sport.  In  so  stat- 
ing we  refer  to  modern  cricket  only.  Ancient 
cricket  was  a  very  much  more  quiet  game  which 
women  played  habitually.  Women  have  now  even 
advanced  so  far  in  athletics  that  one  large  female 
institution  has  gone  through  the  scandal  of  foot- 
ball matches  on  the  sly,  with  the  use  of  "  sweaters  " 
belonging  to  the  brothers  of  the  players. 

The  Ladies'  Berkeley  Athletic  Club  in  New 
York,  offers  facilities  for  instruction  and  practice  in 
every  branch,  including  cycling,  swimming,  fenc- 
ing, bowling,  archery,  tennis  and  badminton. 
Many  ladies  learn  to  mount  and  use  the  bicycle  in 
its  gymnasium  as  they  would  not  and  could  not 
elsewhere.  There  are  two  swimming  tanks — the 
smaller  one,  with  marble  floor  and  walls,  and  ceil- 
ing of  white  and  blue  tiles,  is  constantly  in  use — 
while  bowling  forms  an  amusing  as  well  as  bene- 
ficial exercise.  A  padded  running  track  encircles 
the  large  gymnasium  like  a  gallery,  eight  turns  on 


WOMEN  IN  ATHLETICS.  399 

it  equaling  a  mile.  When  not  occupied  by  classes, 
this  large  room  affords  space  for  tennis,  and  the 
small  gymnasium  may  be  marked  off  for  two  bad- 
minton, courts. 

In  boating,  woman  is  doing  well.  For  example, 
at  Wellesley  College,  rowing  is  an  important  exer- 
cise. A  few  years  ago  the  physical  training  depart- 
ment was  placed  among  the  requirements,  and  the 
members  of  the  Freshman  class  were  required  to 
spend  three  hours  a  week  in  the  gymnasium,  which 
is  thoroughly  fitted  up  with  all  the  appliances  of 
Swedish  educational  apparatus.  Early  in  the 
spring  those  who  wish  to  become  members  of  the 
class-boat  crew  make  application.  That  the  honor 
is  one  that  is  eagerly  desired  is  shown,  for  last  year 
a  hundred  of  the  girls  in  the  Freshman  class  made 
application  for  places  in  the  crew.  Of  this  num- 
ber the  twenty  who  were  found  to  be  the  best  from 
physical  examination  and  from  the  work  which  had 
been  accomplished  in  the  gymnasium  in  the  pre- 
vious winter,  were  selected  to  undergo  a  regular 
course  of  coaching,  with  special  exercises  and  les- 
sons in  rowing,  which  go  on  from  the  spring  until 
the  last  week  of  the  term,  when  the  crew  to  repre- 
sent the  class  at  "  float  night "  is  selected.  In  Har- 
vard or  Yale  a  class  crew  is  picked  out  according 
to  the  skill  of  the  men  in  racing,  but  at  Wellesley 
it  is  entirely  different.  The  young  ladies  do  not 
have  to  race,  and  do  not  race,  but  they  must  be 


400      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

thoroughly  familiar  with  the  science  of  oarsman- 
ship and  must  have  done  enough  gymnastic  work 
to  prove  that  they  are  suited  for  their  places.  It 
must  not  be  thought  that  after  having  once  secured 
a  place  upon  a  class-boat  at  Wellesley  the  honor  is 
a  permanent  one,  for  it  is  nothing  of  the  sort. 
When  the  members  of  the  Freshman  crew  come 
back  in  the  fall  as  Sophomores,  they  go  out  on  the 
lake  together  with  the  candidates  who  wish  to 
apply  for  places  on  the  boat.  After  about  two 
months  of  rowing  in  the  fall,  the  best  twelve  go 
into  training  in  the  gymnasium,  and  the  best  eight 
of  these  represent  the  class  at  ''float  day;''  so  that 
it  is  purely  a  case  of  the  "survival  of  the  fittest" 
in  the  make-up  of  the  crews.  This  operation  is 
repeated  year  after  year,  and  if  a  girl  remains  in 
her  class-boat  until  her  graduating  year,  it  is  only 
because  she  has  worked  faithfully  and  is  best 
suited  for  the  position.  The  physical  benefit  of 
the  exercise  is  what  is  sought. 

The  accompanying  picture  [Fig.  52]  shows  a 
Wellesley  class-boat  fully  manned — or  womanned. 
That  particular  boat  is  not  a  shell  boat,  as  may  be 
seen,  but  something  safer,  wider  and  deeper,  some- 
thing like  a  ship's  boat  but  lighter.  The  young 
ladies  in  this  case  are  not  strictly  rowing.  They 
pull  as  a  man-of-war's  crew,  sitting  two  on  a  seat, 
each  with  one  oar.  They  can  and  do,  however, 
row,  and  in  very  good  form,  with  every  appliance, 


WOMEN  IN  ATHLETICS.  401 

including  sliding  seats  and  spoon  oars,  which  this 
boat  has  not.  They  have  one  boat  43  feet  long 
built  on  the  most  approved  lines.  A  description 
of  this  boat's  crew  says  that  such  unity  and  finish 
of  movement  has  been  attained  that  boat  and  crew 
seem  but  one  creature  animated  by  one  mind. 
The  aim  with  it  all  is  physical  culture,  not  rowing. 
When  rowing  was  first  introduced  the  idea  was  to 
transfer  the  gymnasium  to  the  outdoor  lake. 

It  may  be  mentioned  in  this  connection  that 
Wellesley  also  has  an  organized  golf  club,  and  has 
now  secured  an  outdoor  gymnasium  also,  of  three 
acres  in  extent. 

As  to  boating,  it  is  strange  that  the  American 
girl,  in  general,  does  not  take  more  to  the  exercise. 
Is  it  from  timidity  of  the  girls  or  the  opposition 
of  parents?  A  contributor  to  Peterson  remarks 
that  life  is  as  safe  in  a  boat  as  in  a  carriage  or 
railway  car.  The  horses  may  run  away,  and  the 
train  too;  and  your  boat  may  tip  over — but  the 
chances  are  one  hundred  to  one  that  it  will  not,  if 
you  will  only  keep  still.  That  is  a  hard  lesson  for 
young  people  to  learn;  but  it  is  of  the  last  import- 
ance, and  should  be  thoroughly  understood  before 
one  learns  to  row. 

Half  the  boating  accidents  nowadays  come  simply 
from  carelessness;  and  yet  people  will  be  careless, 
and  two  girls  think  no  more  of  walking  along 
opposite  sides  of  the  boat  in  the  middle  of  a  lake, 


402      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

to  "  change  ends" — when  one  misstep  means  death 
for  all  the  party — than  they  do  of  walking  across 
the  parlor  floor  at  home.  If  girls  could  only  swim  ! 
But  not  one  in  a  hundred  knows  how  (they  would 
not  be  so  careless  if  they  did);  and  if  in  the  water, 
they  would  not  have  presence  of  mind  enough  to 
let  themselves  be  saved. 

We  believe  that  half  the  people  that  have  been 
drowned  might  have  lived  out  the  number  of  their 
days,  if  it  had  not  been  for  their  thoughtlessness  or 
overweening  confidence.  Boats  were  not  made  for 
pedestrian  excursions  nor  for  a  rough  kind  of  fun 
and  jollity.  If  young  people  would  only  remember 
this,  there  would  be  no  need  for  them  to  forego  one 
of  the  most  enjoyable  pastimes  open  to  pleasure- 
loving  young  Americans,  or  enjoy  it  at  the  expense 
of  long,  anxious,  worrying  hours  spent  by  fathers 
and  mothers. 

But  there  are  storms,  and  squalls  and  whirlwinds. 
So  there  are;  but  the  young  woman  of  average 
intelligence  can  read  the  language  of  the  clouds 
and  go  into  the  house  when  it  commences  to  rain. 
It  is  to  be  supposed  that  she  could  learn  to  see  a 
wind-storm  coming,  when  a  little  foresight  would 
take  her  safely  to  land  out  of  harm's  way  before 
the  wind  is  upon  her.  The  girls  have  not  enough 
muscular  development  to  be  safely  depended  upon 
in  a  storm,  and  in  even  a  moderate  wind,  a  boat  is 
no  easy  thing  to  control. 


XHE  DIVIDKD  SKIRT  AS  A   GYMNASTIC  COSTUME,   WORN  WITHOUT 

CORSETS. 


WOMEN  IN  ATHLETICS.  403 

Granted,  then,  the  ability  to  sit  still  in  a  boat,  a 
good  knowledge  of  rowing,  and  watchful  eyes  for 
wind  clouds,  and  there  is  a  wonderful  exhilaration, 
in  being  on  the  water.  There  is  a  zest  in  knowing 
that  your  boat  is  absolutely  under  your  hand,  that 
it  will  obey  the  slightest  dip  of  your  oars  in  the 
water,  and  will  carry  you  wherever  you  wish, 
without  dust  or  jolting. 

The  great  drawback  to  women  who  were  honestly 
trying  for  healthful  exercise  has  always  been  that 
of  dress.  The  skirt  has  ever  been  the  enemy  of 
exercise,  as  much  so  as  the  much  condemned 
corset.  As  for  the  latter  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
no  exercising  should  ever  be  done  in  it.  It  is  un- 
doubtedly worn  looser  than  formerly,  and  to  that 
extent  woman  may  approach  nearer  to  the  primi- 
tive healthful  outline  of  body  in  which  no  trace  of 
the  contracted  waist  exists,  that  being  entirely  a 
product  of  civilization.  Even  for  ordinary  wear  it 
is  objectionable,  for  full  breathing  cannot  be  had 
while  wearing  it.  A  support  for  the  body,  if 
needed,  can  be  had  by  the  use  of  the  corset-waist, 
though  even  that  is  objectionable  on  young  growing 
girls,  as  it  is  usually  worn  so  tight  as  to  compress 
the  embryo  bust  and  retard  the  development  of  the 
figure.  But  as  Mr.  Checkley  points  out,  a  corset  is 
not  needed  to  support  the  figure.  A  corset  that 
supports  the  back,  and  that  keeps  the  back  from 
supporting  itself,  is  antagonizing  the  first  principles 


404       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 


of  physical  development,  the  perfect  muscular  pos- 
session of  the  body.     [Fig.  53.] 

In  the  case  of  the  bust  it  is  of  importance  to 
remember  that  there  is  here,  as  in  all  other  parts  of 
the  body,  a  muscular  system.  With  proper  exercise 
of  these  muscles,  the  necessity  for  support  will  dis- 
appear.    [Fig.  54.] 

Dr.  Sargent  made  the  following  experiments  in 
order  to  ascertain  the  influence  of  tight  clothing 
upon  the  action  of  the  heart  dur- 
ing exercise.  A  dozen  young 
women  consented  to  run  540  yards 
in  their  loose  gymnasium  gar- 
ments, and  then  to  run  the  same 
distance  with  corsets  on.  The 
running  time  was  two  minutes 
and  thirty  seconds  for  each  person 
at  each  trial,  and  in  order  that 
by  there  should  be  no  cardiac  excite- 

as- 

nient  or  depression  following  the 
first  test,  the  second  trial  was  made  the  following  day. 
Before  beginning  the  running  the  average  heart 
impulse  was  84  beats  to  the  minute;  after  running 
the  above  named  distance  the  heart  impulse  was 
152  beats  to  the  minute;  the  average  natural  waist 
girth  being  25  inches.  The  next  day  corsets  were 
worn  during  the  exercise,  and  the  average  girth  of 
waist  was  reduced  to  24  inches.  The  same  distance 
was  run  in  the  same  time  by  all,  and  immediately 


FIG.  53- 
The  figure  supported 
corsets   and   by  m 
cular  action. 


WOMEN  IN  ATHLETICS,  405 

afterward  the  average  heart  impulse  was  found  to 
be  i68  beats  per  minute.  Dr.  Sargent  says:  "When 
I  state  that  I  should  feel  myself  justified  in  advising 
an  athlete  not  to  enter  a  running  or  rowing  race 
whose  heart  impulse  was  i6o  beats  per  minute  after 
a  little  exercise,  even  though  there  was  not  the 
slightest  evidence  of  disease,  one  can  form  some 
idea  of  the  wear  and  tear  on  this  important  organ, 
and  the  physiological  loss  entailed  upon  the  system 
in  women  who  force  it  to  labor  for 
over  half  their  lives  under  such  a  dis- 
advantage as  the  tight  corset  imposes." 
In  order  to  ascertain  the  effects  of 
tight  clothing  upon  respiration,  the 
spirometer  was  tried.  The  average 
natural  girth  of  the  chest  over  the 
ninth  rib  was  28  inches,  and  with 
corsets  26  inches.     The  averatje  lung: 

■^  ^     Showing-  distor- 

capacity  when  corsets  were  worn  was  fio"  g^'^J^^.^^^; 
134  cubic  inches;  when  the  corsets  iJ^^^^a^lSnl 
were  removed  the  test  showed  an  aver-  po^^t^^"- 
age  lung  capacity  of  167  cubic  inches — a  gain  of 
33  cubic  inches.  Who  can  estimate  the  vahie  of 
such  a  difference  to  the  entire  system  ?  Why  preach 
the  gospel  of  fresh  air  to  women  who  deliber- 
ately throw"  away  twenty  per  cent  of  it  by  the  use 
of  tight  stays  and  corsets  ? 

But  there  are  other  evils  arising  indirectly  from 
this  interference  with  the  action  of  the  heart  and 


406        ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL   CULTURE. 

lungs,  the  malnutrition  of  all  parts  of  the  body  in 
consequence  of  imperfect  circulation.  From  long 
continued  observation,  joined  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
history  of  the  individual,  Dr.  Sargent  says  that  he 
has  come  to  associate  disproportionately  large  lower 
limbs  with  what  is  termed  a  feeble  aspiration  of  the 
thorax.  This  means  a  failure  of  the  heart  and  lungs 
to  draw  the  blood  back  to  the  centre  of  the  body.^ 
It  tends  to  linger  in  the  extremities  through  force 
of  gravity;  oxidation  of  the  tissues  is  interfered 
with,  and  an  accumulation  of  adipose  below  the 
waist  is  frequently  the  result.  This  tendency  is  much 
more  common  in  women  than  in  men,  largely  due 
to  the  want  of  sufficient  aspiration  of  the  thorax  in 
consequence  of  the  usual  constriction  about  the 
waist.  In  some  cases  this  accumulation  of  adipose 
in  the  lower  extremities  has  become  so  excessive 
that  the  girth  of  the  thigh  actually  exceeds  the 
girth  of  the  waist.  It  would  hardly  seem  necessary 
to  state  to  anyone  that  a  woman  so  formed  is  incapa- 
citated not  only  for  all  g\^mnastic  and  athletic  work, 
but  for  the  common  enjoyments  of  active  life. 

It  is  the  symmetrical  and  proportionate  develop- 
ment of  parts,  with  adipose  enough  to  cover  the 
angles  and  hollows,  that  constitutes  true  beauty. 
This  is  the  style  of  development  that  is  likely  to 
accompany  the  active  gyrations  of  the  premiere 
danseuse,  the  skater  and  lady  fencer.  It  may  be 
attained   by  such  exercises  as  running,   walking, 


NORMAI,  F^MAI^E  CHEST  AND  BACK. 


WOMEN  IN  ATHLETICS.  407 

rowing,  swimming,  tennis,  or  gymnastics  where  the 
lower  limbs  and  body  are  actively  used  and  the  cir- 
culation and  respiration  are  not  impeded  by  tight 
clothing. 

In  the  opinion  of  many  physiologists  the  respira- 
ation  of  women  is  largely  thoracic,  in  distinction 
from  that  of  men  and  children,  which  is  principally 
diaphragmatic  or  abdominal.  On  this  ground  many 
have  argued  that  corsets  do  not  necessarily  interfere 
with  respiration,  but  this  deduction  of  the  physiol- 
ogists is  probably  a  mistake.  The  habit  of  thoracic 
breathing  has  more  likely  been  brought  about  by 
constricting  the  waist  and  lower  ribs.  This  opinion 
is  held  by  many  observers  in  this  country  and  in 
Europe. 

The  effect  of  tight  clothing  upon  the  functions 
of  the  stomach,  liver,  and  other  abdominal  viscera 
has  long  been  known  to  physicians.  Could  the  fair 
reader  know  the  importance  of  the  organs  com- 
pressed and  displaced  by  the  waist-band,  and  the 
part  they  play  not  only  in  administering  to  the 
welfare  of  the  body,  but  in  influencing  thoughts 
and  feelings  that  really  enhance  life's  pleasures,  she 
would  certainly  need  no  argument  to  convince  her 
that  it  would  be  worth  while  to  give  these  agents  a 
fair  chance  to  perform  the  work  that  nature  imposes 
upon  them. 

The  authorities  of  art  schools  in  this  country  say 
that  it  is  very  difficult  to  find  well-developed  female 


408       ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

models.  This  is  attributed  not  only  to  want  of 
sufficient  exercise  among  women  generally,  but  to 
improper  clothing. 

As  to  other  parts  of  the  dress,  Dr.  Sargent  advises 
that  ''tight  sleeves  that  interrupt  the  circulation 
in  the  arms  should  never  be  worn  in  exercising; 
and  those  who  are  ambitious  to  realize  a  good  mus- 
cular development  in  the  arms  can  afford  to  dispense 
with  sleeves  altogether. 

"  As  to  skirts — what  shall  we  say  of  them  ?  They 
have  hampered  the  progress  of  civilized  women  for 
three  thousand  years.  If  they  must  be  worn,  let 
them  be  reduced  to  the  minimum  in  number  if  not 
in  thickness,  so  as  to  restrict  the  free  movement  of 
the  limbs  as  little  as  possible.  The  lower  gannents 
should  be  fastened  to  a  waist  so  that  the  support 
shall  come  from  the  hips  at  the  rim  of  the  pelvis, 
and  not  from  the  shoulders.  If  the  waist-jacket  is 
properly  made  it  will  support  the  abdominal  walls 
in  front,  and  not  allow  the  weight  of  the  garments 
to  drag  on  these  parts,  as  is  generally  the  case  in 
garments  supported  from  the  waist. 

"During  exercise  the  skirt  should  be  worn  to  the 
knee,  or  should  be  exchanged  for  such  other  special 
costumes  as  are  now  in  use  in  college  gymnasiums 
for  women." 

Common  sense  garments  of  various  kinds  are 
now  beginning  to  fill  the  want  for  clothes  that  will 
allow  the  use  of  plenty  of  air  for  breathing  and 
freedom  of  movement. 


AN   ABNORMAI<  TYPE. 


WOMEN  IN  ATHLETICS,  409 

Another  authority  advises  that  "  the  skirt  for 
exercising  should  not  be  too  light,  so  that  it  will 
stay  down  with  its  own  weight.  In  preference  to 
a  divided  skirt  or  tights  he  recommends  the  use  of 
ample  material  with  broad  kilts  or  pleats  at  the 
band,  which  should  be  broad.  The  pleats  should 
be  made  so  as  to  open  easily  at  the  bottom.  There 
should  be  absolutely  no  corsets  worn  during  exer- 
cise, but  if  a  corset-waist  is  insisted  on,  it  should 
be  entirely  without  bones  or  steels.  For  waist,  a 
flannel  sailor  or  other  jacket  is  good,  but  the  best 
is  a  jersey." 

In  the  practice  of  fencing  it  has  been  found  that 
the  best  waist  is  a  tight-fitting  one,  as  loose  folds 
are  apt  to  catch  the  foil.  A  corset-waist  is  worn, 
made  expressly  for  the  purpose,  which  does  not  go 
below  the  waist-band,  as  many  of  the  exercises  of 
fencing  include  motions  at  the  hips.  It  might  be 
well  to  observe  such  a  precaution  in  any  exercise 
requiring  hip  motion. 

The  regular  gymnastic  dress  in  most  general  use 
by  women  who  exercise  by  means  of  the  "  Turner  " 
system  is  a  loose  waist  of  flannel,  short  skirt  and 
Turkish  trousers.  The  use  of  any  kind  of  corset 
or  even  corset-waist,  is  rigidly  prohibited.  Divided 
skirts  are  also  being  used,  but  are  not  obligatory  in 
most  classes. 

Many  women,  as  they  are  at  present  condi- 
tioned,   need  rest   as  well    as   exercise,    not   only 


410      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

recreative  rest,  but  absolute  rest.  This  is  the  case 
with  young  mothers.  Her  children  give  her  enough 
bodily  movement.  The  tired  woman  should  rest, 
if  possible,  when  she  feels  like  it.  To  her  the 
short  (not  long  and  enervating)  afternoon  nap  is 
a  necessity.  A  physician,  who  is  a  specialist  in 
nervous  diseases,  says  that  women  should  sleep 
at  least  nine  hours  at  night  and  one  hour  in  the 
daytime.  A  woman  will  plead  that  she  hasn't 
time  to  lie  down  for  a  few  minutes  in  the  day- 
time; and  she  will  infringe  upon  the  hours  of 
the  night,  which  should  be  given  to  sound,  healthy, 
needed  sleep,  in  order  to  finish  some  work  which 
could  as  well  be  completed  on  the  morrow.  Or  she 
will  rush  and  hurry  all  day  long;  and  then,  when 
the  household  is  hushed  in  slumber  at  night,  she 
will  sit  up  to  read  the  daily  paper,  thinking  she 
will  not  have  to  pay  for  the  time  she  is  stealing  from 
the  health-giving  sleep  that  comes  before  midnight. 

With  the  exception  that  the  length  of  the  day-nap 
would  seem  to  be  too  great,  this  is  good  advice. 

Usually,  the  desire  for  day  sleep  is  said  to  mean 
either  that  that  body  has  too  much  food,  which  has 
made  the  body  sluggish,  or  that  the  brain  circula- 
tion is  poor.  In  either  event  it  is  the  same  cause, 
want  of  exercise.  But  while  the  brain  circulation 
is  sluggish,  better  give  in  to  its  needs,  and  after,  by 
exercise,  you  have  made  it  less  slow,  the  need  for 
the  rest  will  not  be  apparent. 


A  SITTING   POSITION   WHICH   WII^I,   DEVEI^OP   AN   ABNORMAI^ 
TYPE   OF  CHEST   AND  BACK. 


WOMEN  IN  ATHLETICS. 


411 


Women  are  not  usually  in  such  poor  condition 
that  they  cannot  exercise,  or  if  they  are  they  have 
endurance  enough  to  persevere  until  their  condition 
is  improved.  Is  it  physical  strength  or  endurance 
that  will  persevere  through  a  long  night's  work, 
either  with  a  sick  child,  or  to  see  a  ball  to  the 
finish,  dancing  incessantly  the  while  ? 

A  woman  should  remember  one,  to  her,  very  im- 
portant thing,  namely,  that  exercise  not  only  gives 
health,  but  incidentally  and  consequently,  grace  and 
beauty  as  well.  Nor  is  this  benefit  confined  to 
form  only,  but  to  the  color  of  the  skin  and  its  con- 
dition. Good  exercise  in  any  form  will  do  more 
for  a  woman's  complexion  than  any  lotion  or  pre- 
paration, and  it  has  an  immediate  effect. 


Conclusion, 


xxm. 

Conclusion. 

We  may  go  one  step  further  and  in  conclusion 
assert  boldly  that  it  is  our  positive  duty  to  take 
part  in  athletics,  because  it  is  our  duty  to  care  for 
our  bodies.  In  that  light  the  best  use  of  athletics 
for  physical  culture  which  we  have  been  consider- 
ing, is  far  higher,  nobler  and  more  important  than 
the  winning  of  contests,  which  has  all  along  been 
too  much  the  object.  In  that  light  the  athletic 
teacher,  or  he  who  presses  the  claims  of  athletics, 
has  as  noble  a  mission  to  perform  as  the  noble 
physician  who  cares  for  men's  bodies  in  another 
way.  Such  a  calling  was  not  beneath  the  notice 
of  the  man  whose  profession  it  was  to  go  about 
doing  good.  He  cured  men's  bodies,  not  by  medi- 
cine or  exercise,  but  by  a  touch.  In  whatever  way 
it  is  done,  the  care  or  cure  is  a  benefaction,  and 
the  man  who  performs  the  office  is  a  benefactor. 
He  is  in  fact  a  preserver  of  human  life.  He  who 
gives  good  health  gives  the  greatest  blessing  that 
anyone  can  possess.  He  aids  the  world's  progress, 
and  helps  to  make  the  world's  great  men,  for  only 
physically  perfect  men  are  fit  for  the  world's  great 
deeds.  A  weak  body  makes  a  weak  mind.  A 
Washington  or  a  Napoleon  must  be  strong  in  body. 

(415) 


416      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  spread  of  athletics,  the 
subject  still  needs  a  preacher.  There  are  still  many 
men  to-day  who  are  so  engrossed  with  the  cares  of 
business  that  they  give  no  thought  to  the  needs  of 
the  body.  They  take  no  holiday.  They  grudge 
themselves  even  time  for  meals,  driving  early  and 
late.  Some  day  they  must  stop,  and  then  they 
will  be  either  too  worn  or  too  old  to  enjoy  the 
leisure. 

In  proof  of  this  let  anyone  visit  a  Turkish  bath 
and  see  how  the  majority  of  city  dwellers  to-day 
have  cared  for  their  bodies.  Bodies  will  be  seen 
which,  if  developed  at  all,  are  developed  in  the 
wrong  direction,  usually  only  by  the  daily  avoca- 
tion [see  Fig.  6,  and  right-hand  figure  in  Fig.  9]. 
Pipe-stem  arms  will  be  seen,  and  shoulders  and 
backs  which  show  no  muscles  on  account  of  the 
fat.  Spindle-shaped  thighs  and  straight  calves  will 
be  found,  and  often  supporting  bellies  which  would 
better  suit  a  Bacchus.  The  abdomen  is  often  seem- 
ingly of  more  weight  than  the  frail  supports  can 
hold  [see  Fig.  51]. 

This  is  more  frequently  the  character  of  the 
body  belonging  to  the  wealthy  employer  class. 
The  employe,  if  his  occupation  is  clerk  or  some- 
thing sedentary,  is  not  materially  different,  save 
that  if  he  is  poor  the  belly  is  not  so  pronounced, 
because  he  has  not  the  means  to  put  so  much  into 
it.     If  the  employe  is  a  person  employed  at  some 


CONCLUSION.  417 

pursuit  requiring  physical  exertion,  lie  may  show 
some  difference  in  formation,  but,  as  a  rule,  only  in 
the  line  required  by  the  pursuit,  while  in  other 
respects  the  body  is  deformed. 

If  the  employer  were  more  acquainted  with  the 
need,  he  would  take  a  more  lively  interest,  not  only 
in  his  own  physical  cultivation,  but  in  that  of  those 
under  him,  and  aid  in  getting  them  to  give  atten- 
tion to  athletics.  The  richer  man  should  support 
rather  than  take  no  interest  or  frown  down  such 
pursuits.  From  selfish  motives  only  he  would 
further  them  if  he  would  consider  that  by  so  doing 
he  would  get  twice  as  effective  work  out  of  his 
employes  in  working  hours,  for  the  same  money. 
This  he  can  test  if  he  will  in  his  own  body,  and  if 
the  result  is  satisfactory  let  him  see  that  his  men 
apply  the  same  rules  to  themselves,  purely  as  a 
money-making  adventure. 

In  the  matter  of  holidays,  which  give  time  for 
physical  improvement,  we  are  doing  much  better 
than  formerly.  But  it  has  always  been  a  noticeable 
fact  that  we,  the  most  pushing  of  nations,  the  most 
nervous,  using  exhaustive  force  more  than  any  of 
our  neighbors  across  the  water,  and  needing  the 
h(»liday  ten  times  more  than  they,  have  always  had 
less  of  them  than  they  have. 

Those  who  prefer  to  stay  at  home  inactive, 
taking  medicines  for  ills  rather  than  exercise, 
should  hear  the  words  of  a  noted  physician  and 

27 


418      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

physical  authority,  Dr.  J.  William  White,  as  follows: 
"  Let  it  be  understood  that  the  main  object  and 
idea  of  exercise  is  the  acquirement  or  preservation 
of  health;  that  it  is  by  far  the  most  important 
therapeutic  and  hygienic  agency  at  the  command 
of  a  physician  of  to-day;  that  it  can  be  prescribed 
on  as  rational  a  basis  with  as  distinct  reference  to 
the  correction  of  existing  troubles  or  the  prevention 
of  threatened  ones  as  any  of  the  drugs  of  the  phar- 
macopoeia; that  it  increases  not  only  the  muscular 
strength  and  general  vitality,  but  also  the  activity 
and  vigor  of  the  brain;  that  it  augments  incalcula- 
bly the  working  power  of  the  individual,  and  that  it 
enables  him,  by  means  of  the  health  and  strength 
which  it  confers,  not  only  to  do  better  work  than 
his  business  or  professional  rival  who  lacks  these 
attributes,  but  also  to  do  it  more  easily  and  safely, 
with  the  greatest  amount  of  comfort  and  pleasure 
and  the  highest  degree  of  usefulness  to  mankind." 

Those  who  look  at  everything  only  from  the 
standpoint  of  religious  duty,  and  who  aim  to  fol- 
low the  example  of  the  Christ  in  all  things,  have 
in  Him  a  most  positive  kind  of  an  athletic  exem  plar. 

Christ  was  a  strong  man.  His  body  was  hard  to 
kill,  even  by  the  tortures  of  crucifixion.  Inciden- 
tally we  know  that  as  a  child  He  was  physically 
perfect  or  it  would  not  have  been  necessary  to 
redeem  Him  by  means  of  an  offering  in  the  Temple 
according  to   the   law  of  the  first-born.     He  was 


CONCLUSION,  419 

brought  up  to  a  manual  pursuit  which  strength- 
ened His  body  and  which  was  probably  the  earthly 
means  adopted  in  preference  to  anything  super- 
natural, to  secure  strength  enough  to  endure  the 
earthly  trials  required.  He  made  long  trying  jour- 
neys, and  kept  long  tiresome  vigils.  Rev.  Mr. 
Wadsworth  thinks  that  no  weakling  could  have 
taken  a  scourge  of  small  cords  and  driven  out  the 
money-changers  and  dove-sellers  from  the  Temple, 
overturning  the  tables  and  sweeping  everything 
before  Him.  Horrible  mediaeval  painting  and  dis- 
gusting shrines  hS.ve  presented  to  the  world  a  sorry 
figure,  frail  and  insignificant,  not  to  say  monstrous 
in  its  anatomy,  from  which  we  get  our  ideas  that 
He  had  not  an  athletic  body.  For  such  a  concep- 
tion we  have  only  to  thank  the  vile  imaginations 
of  worthless  monks.  There  is  no  ground  for  such 
an  idea.  All  the  facts  of  His  life  can  only  be 
explained  on  the  supposition  that  He  was  physi- 
cally a  strong  man. 

This  fibrous  virility  characterized  His  mind  no 
less  than  His  body.  He  had  a  muscular  brain.  His 
mind  stood  out  in  marked  contrast  to  that  of  the 
Pharisees  and  scribes,  and  indeed  to  all  the  men 
of  His  time. 

It  is  well  for  us  that  we  in  this  country  have  had 
our  attention  called  to  athletics.  Without  it  we 
should  be  a  dying  nation  to-day.  As  it  is,  the  future 
is  full  of  hope.    When  we  undertake  to  do  a  thing. 


420      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

we  usually  try  to  do  it  with  all  our  might.  The 
present  interest  in  athletics,  great  as  it  is,  is  as 
nothing  compared  with  what  it  is  to  be.  We  are 
to  be  the  greatest  athletic  nation  on  the  face  of  the 
earth.  Even  to-day  we  are  ahead  of  ancient  Greece 
and  Rome,  much  as  they  were  devoted  to  athletic 
pursuits.  We  probably  have  more  athletes  inter- 
ested in  the  pursuit  of  base-ball,  than  both  of  those 
countries  together  had  in  all  their  athletic  games 
combined. 

As  a  nation,  the  athletic  part  of  us,  we  have  the 
one  sure  mark  of  physical  health.  Taking  all  in  all 
our  digestive  powers  are  good.  We  can  digest  food 
which  could  not  be  digested  by  the  people  of  any 
other  nation.  Our  negligence  shows  that  we  require 
less  care  to  maintain  our  health.  It  is  only  the 
worst  abuse  that  makes  many  of  us  dyspeptics — 
abuse  that  would  kill  any  other  nation.  A  visit  to 
the  United  States  Senate,  which  may  be  counted 
more  of  a  sample  of  our  mentally  strong  people 
than  the  House,  shows  the  members  to  be  men  of 
strong  build,  and  undoubtedly  of  good  digestion, 
without  which  they  could  not  have  attained  their 
positions,  whether  due  to  the  possession  of  money 
or  brains.  The  attainment  of  money  with  us  usually 
requires  brains  and  physical  liealth. 

As  a  race  we  have  good  digestive  powers  in 
another  sense.  We  absorb  and  assimilate  all  that 
come  to  our  shores,  and  turn  them  into  a  new  race, 


CONCLUSION.  421 

a  strong  athletic  nation,  which  will  live  and  con- 
quer. Our  language,  or  the  language  of  the  strong 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  all  the  nations  of  which  are  as 
much  interested  in  athletics  as  we  are,  and  which 
must  sooner  or  later  be  run  together  as  one  nation, 
for  all  their  interests  are  in  common,  will  be  the 
language  of  the  world.  Together  we  shall  go 
forth  conquering  and  to  conquer,  not  only  by  the 
bodily  power,  but  by  the  strong  powers  of  mind 
also,  which  come  from  strong:  bodies.  Thousfh 
politically  or  mentally  we  may  conquer  the  world 
by  peaceable  means,  it  will  be  by  reason  of  bodily 
superiority.  If  we  were  weakly  we  could  not  do 
it.  No  one  likes  to  molest  a  strong  man.  He  is 
allowed  to  have  his  own  way.  The  strong  man 
has  less  fighting  to  do  than  the  weak,  for  his  body 
shows  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  prove  which  is  the 
stronger. 

Those  who  look  at  the  matter  from  grounds  of 
patriotism  can  thus  have  the  same  reason  for  foster- 
ing athletics  as  had  the  ancient,  who  not  only  had 
bodily  health  in  view,  but  to  put  that  bodily  health 
to  use  in  protecting  and  extending  the  national 
boundaries. 

On  all  grounds,  therefore,  we  have  reason  that 
athletics  should  prevail.  Any  one  of  them  should 
be  sufficient  to  secure  an  active  support  for  athletic 
pursuits,  particularly  for  purposes  of  physical  cul- 
ture, from  every  American. 


422      ATHLETICS  FOR  PHYSICAL    CULTURE. 

We  shall  become  the  mighty  nation  such  as  the 
world  has  never  seen,  strong  physically,  politically, 
mentally,  morally — but  when?  Such  a  nation 
will  be  composed  of  individual  units  of  like  char- 
acter. Are  we  each  doing  his  part — his  duty  in 
the  matter  ?  Are  we  fostering  physical  culture, 
best  reached  as  here  shown  by  athletic  pursuits? 
Let  us  see  to  it  at  once.  Let  us  hasten  the  day,  if 
only  from  selfish  motives — our  own  individual 
profit.     Let  us  be  up  and  doing. 


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